236 A Sportswoman in India 



an hour to get a nearer look, but the three objects 

 moved on. The next day was very wet. S. shot a 

 brace of ram chakor, a sort of large pheasant, grey 

 with red legs handsome birds and very good to eat. 

 Early in the afternoon the snowstorm came on. It 

 was freezingly cold ; after waiting up the mountain 

 for it to get better which it did not they returned 

 to the little tent soaked to the skin. Sala Bux had 

 prepared something hot ; the little tent was fairly water- 

 proof ; and S. lay down, while the servants huddled 

 round a tree, against which they piled and platted some 

 fir-tree branches as a shelter. All the air was thick 

 with snow. In the middle of the night water and 

 snow came in under the edge of the tent, and S. 

 awoke wet through. He got his two gun-cases, laid 

 them side by side, and slept on them as well as he 

 could for the rest of the night. 



In the morning there was a foot of snow everywhere, 

 and it was snowing hard. They all set off to come 

 down to me ; the actual distance was six miles. Sala 

 Bux and the coolies, with baggage, were seven hours 

 over it. Wading through the snowy torrent must 

 have been cold work. 



The remainder of that day S. and I sat in my tent, 

 shivering with cold. Towards evening Lalla came in 

 to say that it was more than probable that our 

 tent-poles would break in the night from the weight 

 of snow. It was an uncomfortable picture in such 

 weather ! I packed, and I slept in all my clothes, 

 even to my boots ; for, of course, if the bamboos had 



