1 3§ THE SPIRAL-HORNED MARKHOOR. 



are pretty sure to show themselves sooner or later, and by sitting still there is much less 

 chance of being observed first, than by scrambling blindly through tangled thickets, and 

 displacing rolling stones. It is singular how wild animals sometimes appear when least 

 expected : you may have been watching a hill-side for hours, carefully scanning every nook 

 and corner with the most powerful glass, without seeing a vestige of a living creature ; when 

 suddenly — as if they had started out of the earth — a herd is feeding right in front of you. 

 It may be that even after the game is viewed you find it utterly impossible to approach 

 them ; or, just as you have laid your plans, they are entirely upset by the approach of clouds 

 which sweep along the hill-side and shut out everything from view. 

 How often have I been reminded of Tennyson's lines : — 



" The swimming vapour slopes athwart the glen, 

 Puts forth an arm, and creeps from pine to pine, 

 And loiters slowly drawn." 



No description could be more graphic and expressive. 



I have had my share of such disappointments, and have also had my successes. 



The first year I was in India (in 1861), I commenced my hill shooting by visiting the 

 Pir Panjal. Turning off the regular Kashmir road at Baramgalla, I spent several days in 

 the vicinity of Chitta Pani, one of the best places for Markhoor, but though I saw several, 

 I did not get a shot at an old male. Being quite inexperienced, I had not the requisite 

 stock of patience to ensure success, and after a few days' hunting, I went on to Kashmir by 

 a pass considerably to the left of the regular Pir Panjal one, without having bagged 

 anything. 



In August, 1862, on my return from Thibet, I again visited the Pir Panjal in search of 

 Markhoor. Leaving the main road near Aliabad Serai, I came into another valley near 

 Chitta Pani'. On the first day, August the 20th, I had hardly reached the 'ground when I 

 saw two female Markhoor. I wounded one of them badly, but lost her in a thick fog. For 

 the next five days I worked hard, but only saw a few female Markhoor and Tahr among the 

 highest rocks. Every morning the clouds came rolling up from the valleys below, enveloping 

 us in thick mist and rendering it impossible to see farther than a few yards. In the evening 

 they sank gradually down again. 



I had not even seen the track of an old Markhoor, and was beginning almost to despair 

 of success, when at last, on the 26th, we were blessed with a fine, clear day. Leaving my 

 tent at daylight, and going to the top of the hill on which I was encamped, I proceeded 

 along the face of a crescent-shaped range of high steep hills, much broken up by ravines. 

 I had gone a very short distance when I saw five Markhoor feeding about four hundred yards 

 below us. Two of them had fair sized horns, the others were smaller. We lay down to 

 watch them, and while doing so, I discovered nine more farther along the hill : the glass 

 showed them all to be fine old males, six in particular having splendid horns. They were 

 near one horn of the crescent-shaped hill, while we were near the other, so it was impossible 

 to approach them until they shifted their ground. In about half-an-hour they disappeared 

 round the opposite end of the hill, and to my delight, they were speedily followed by the 



