LARGE GAME SHOOTING. 



CHAPTER I. 



DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRY. 



No country in the world affords such a variety of sport as our Indian Empire, and no 

 part of it contains so many different animals as the region which lies between the great 

 watershed of Asia and the plains of Hindostan. 



There we have the extremes of a nearly arctic and a tropical climate ; of precipitous 

 and barren mountains, and plains clothed with the densest vegetation ; and in each 

 situation we find various descriptions of " Large Game," to understand whose habits we must 

 be acquainted with the peculiarities of their natural haunts. 



I shall attempt to give some idea of the different hunting grounds I have visited, 

 although descriptions must always fall far short of conveying a proper conception of the 

 magnificence of Himalayan scenery ; and not even the word-painting of a Ruskin could do 

 justice to the magical effects of light and vivid coloring to be witnessed among the 

 wonderfully tinted hills of Thibet, through the medium of an atmosphere compared with 

 which that of Italy is foggy. 



Taking the northern and most elevated regions first, and gradually working southwards 

 and downwards, I shall commence with that wild and little-known country Thibet. Under 

 this head several distinct provinces are included — Ladak, Baltistan, and some of the frontier 

 districts of Chinese Tartary which are partially accessible to Englishmen. 



Many people dislike Thibet, but in spite of its bleak, desert appearance, and severe 

 climate, it has great charms for me. One there experiences a sensation of perfect freedom 

 which I have never felt elsewhere ; and a sort of mystery still hangs over the land, which 

 modern geographical research has stripped from almost every other country in the world. 



The greater part of Thibet is rugged and mountainous ; but the mountains, as a rule, are 

 not very high above the plane of their actual bases, though the mean elevation of the 

 country is somewhere about 14,000 feet above the level of the sea. 



Few plains of any extent occur, but the country is much intersected by streams and 



