MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 387 
However, we turned back, and on reaching camp I had breakfast while the 
tents were being struck, After breakfast we started up the other nulla 
followed by the baggage. The sky had now begun to look rather threaten- 
ing, and before we had marched an hour we were caught’ in a heavy snow- 
storm, ‘The going was also very bad; the yaks could scarcely struggle 
through the deep snow ; so on arriving at a likely looking place for a camp, 
a small island of bare ground in the middle of an ocean of snow, I gave 
orders to unload and pitch the tents, 
In the afternoon it cleared up slightly, and Dhe Kian, strolling casually 
into my tent, said “ Gulga” (O. poli), and asked fort htelee scope. OutI bolted 
and, looking where Dhe Khan pointed, saw five black dots against. the snow 
on the other side of the valley about half a mile off, O, pols they were without 
a doubt, and I was soon eagerly examining their horns with the telescope, One 
of them looked a big fellow, with horns curling down slightly at the tips, 
which I took to be a good sign. The ground they were on reminded me very 
much of Ovis ammon country ; in fact, without the telescope, one might have 
imagined one was looking at O, ammon. They did not appear to notice our 
camp, which must have been visible, but continued walking slowly in our 
direction until they were hidden by a ridge. Meanwhile we had been 
hurriedly getting on our foot-gear, and, now that the: way was clear, started 
off at once across the snow-covered valley, It was pretty hard work, as the 
snow was deep and soft, and occasionally one went right through into an icy 
stream which was flowing underneath, Once across the valley the going was 
better, and we soon reached the ridge which had hidden the O, poli from us, 
On looking cautiously over nothing was to be seen, and Dhe Khan shook his 
head and pointed to some fresh tracks in the snow leading away from us, 
This looked bad, and I was very much afraid we had made a mess of our 
stalk, when suddenly my eye fell on a brown back which came into view for a 
moment down below. Motioning to Dhe Khan to follow me, I took the rifle 
and managed to get within about 400 yards of the O. pold, Four of them were 
laying down on a bate patch of ground, and the one I had seen was moving 
down to join them, A nearer approach was clearly impossible.’ Moreover, 
even if the rams got up, they would not be likely to retrace their steps and come 
towards us, and the further they moved away the worse matters would get, as 
the ground beyond them was absolutely level for a long way. Dhe Khan 
now began to make some suggestions, My knowledge of Persian was extreme- 
ly limited, and I could hardly understand a word he said ; but shikaris all 
the world over can understand one another, and I saw very well that what he 
proposed was a drive, The mere word “ drive,’ when applied to mountain 
game, sounds terribly unsportsmanlike, but I think a drive when there are no 
stops, and the beaters consist of one man only, is just as sporting as a stalk, 
requires a perfect knowledge of the habits of the animals, and, as far as my 
experience goes, is very rarely successful. In this case it really seemed to 
