1326 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXI. 



behind me, did not scent or spot the sleeping animal, and I was able to 

 survey him at leisure. Though he lay with head towards me and I was 

 quite conspicuous, taking little trouble to conceal myself, he never winked 

 an eye, only his ears flapped lazily keeping off the flies. The head was a 

 fine one (12 pointer) but thick in velvet. The coat was patchy and 

 evidently in process of being shed. I gazed my fill, then dropping quietly 

 behind cover again, left him to his siesta and passed on up the hill. As 

 luck would have it my camera was not with me that day and I have since 

 often regretted the unique snapshot lost. From a coign of vantage, some 

 800 yards beyond and above, not a movement of the stag could escape me 

 so I sat and munched my sandwiches and enjoyed the panorama of snowy 

 peaks and glaciers spread before me. 



For 2 hours or more he slept peacefully. Then, rising, shook himself, 

 sauntered across the snow, and proceeded to drink at a puddle left by 

 the melting snow, after which he began to drop slowly down hill, on the 

 steep side, browsing the while. Wishing to have a last look at him on my 

 way down I made for the spot where he had disappeared from view and 

 peered over. 



There he still stood, some 80 yards below, browsing quietly. I let him 

 see me but he evinced little sign of fear, merely dropping a few feet lower, 

 and resuming his browsing. But for my terrier which, this time, spotted 

 him and gave him chase, I could have approached him much closer. Seeing 

 the terrier he rattled down hill and out of view, leaving a void in the 

 picturesque landscape. 



When descending a hill these stags look awkward and clumsy compared 

 with the graceful bounding movements of Markhor or Ibex. 



Some days later a further curious experience with Kashmir Stag befell 

 me on this same hill. Climbing it with a brother oflicer we had a cooly 

 with us carrying our paraphernalia. When some way up I asked the 

 latter if he had ever been on this hill before and if he knew that 

 "Barasing" lived on top. He replied that he had not, and expressed a 

 desire to see a " Bangui. " This I undertook to promise to show him. 

 Within 5 minutes of this conversation, appearing slowly over a ridge to 

 our left, we saw the antlers of a big Barasing, then the whole animal 

 standing on the sky line. Following him came another, then another, and 

 still others, until there were five grand stags, all apparently good shootable 

 heads, standing in full view and barely 400 yards away ! No one was 

 more astonished than I, for although feeling pretty confident of meeting 

 with a stag that day, I was not prepared for the splendid fulfilment of 

 my promise in the vision we had just seen. For some days after this I 

 believe I bore the reputation of being a " Jadu-gar." 



H. A. F. MAGRATH, Lt.-Col. 

 Kashmir, August 1912. 



