152 THE HIMALAYAN IBEX. 



high ! It was after dark when we at length surmounted the last step, and found ourselves on 

 the open hill-side above our tents. There were no great impediments in the way now, but 

 the hill being very steep and the grass slippery, we often had considerable difficulty in 

 keeping our footing, and we were by no means sorry when we met some men who had come 

 out with lights to show us the way to camp. 



We had had a hard day's work, but that is little thought of when sport is good, and I 

 look back upon that day as a most enjoyable one. 



Circumstances prevented me from again visiting Ibex ground till 1882, when having 

 obtained long leave, I made the best of my way to Pangi ; and having crossed the PdngiCh6ni 

 Pass on the 26th of April, found that I was the first to arrive in the valley. The snow-fall 

 had been unusually heavy, and although Ibex were not quite so numerous as they were twelve 

 years before, I had excellent sport, and secured several good heads. 



One of my last days' sport so well illustrates the difficulties and pleasures of my favorite 

 pastime, that, at the risk of tiring the reader, I will describe it in detail. 



At a point where the Chandra-Bagha, or infant Chenab, cuts its way between beetling 

 cliffs, along the face of which rough stairs of stone and airy galleries of hastily trimmed pine 

 trees form the road which rather tries the nerves of the unaccustomed traveller, a rushing 

 torrent comes tumbling down a cleft between two deodar-clad hills, and contributes its quota 

 to swell the volume of the great stream which ultimately exercises the utmost ingenuity and 

 resources of our Engineers to span and restrain it. Along the margin of this torrent, in the 

 direction of its icy sources, lay the path which I had to follow in order to reach my hunting 

 ground. Path, in the proper acceptation of the word, there was none ; but we had to pick our 

 way over gravel and boulders, and occasional fallen trees washed down by the stream when 

 in flood, until after a scramble of a little more than a mile, we reached a spot where the valley 

 forked, and two streams of nearly equal size united their waters. Looking upwards, we 

 could see that a huge rocky hill with craggy summit divided the two streams towards their 

 sources, while from the main peak a long ridge ran down towards where we stood, terminating 

 in a sharp tongue with precipitous banks which filled the acute angle at the junction of the 

 two streams. Climbing the steep side of the sharp wedge which separated the waters, I 

 found myself on a tolerably level spot, surrounded by young deodars ; and here I determined 

 to establish my bivouac. 



Having reached the halting place pretty early in the day, there was ample time to make 

 the few necessary camp arrangements, previous to going out to reconnoitre in the afternoon. 

 These being completed, we set out to explore the upper parts of the valley ; and in order to 

 obtain the best possible view on both sides, we continued to ascend the ridge on which we 

 already were established. After threading our way through a quantity of fallen timber 

 which encumbered the ground over the space of several acres, and climbing for a consider- 

 able distance through pine forest, we reached an open plateau where the bright green grass 

 showed that it was the resort of shepherds with their flocks and herds, during the summer 

 months. There we commanded a view of both valleys for a considerable distance, the beds 

 of their respective streams at this point not being above half a mile apart. The right hand 



