the Kashmir deer. • 183 



I have heard of fourteen and sixteen tines, but have never seen more than thirteen, and 

 I think the finest pair of horns I ever saw had only eleven. 



I have never shot a really fine stag, so I unfortunately possess no horns worth photo- 

 graphing. 



It has so happened that I have only on one occasion been able to prolong my leave 

 till the rutting season, and consequently I have had but scanty opportunities of shooting 

 stags. 



Bard Sing usually shed their horns in March or very early in April, just before the time 

 when officers can generally reach Kashmir. 



Shortly afterwards the stags begin to work their way upwards as the snow melts, 

 and eventually migrate to the highest ranges, and to distant and secluded forests. Here 

 they remain while their horns are growing, and as soon as they are clear of the ' velvet ' 

 the stags begin to retrace their steps in order to rejoin the hinds, which have, for the most 

 part, remained at lower elevations. 



Before the rutting season actually commences the stags are extremely difficult to find, 

 concealing themselves a great deal in the forest, eating very little, and not wandering far. 



About the middle or end of September the stags begin to bellow or ' call,' and the 

 fiercest rivalry prevails. The challenge of an old stag may be replied to from several direc- 

 tions, and the whereabouts of the belligerents being thus betrayed, they may be stalked and 

 shot without much difficulty. 



In order to be successful in Hangal-shooting, however, it is necessary to have good 

 local information : the deer almost invariably return from their summer retreats by certain 

 well-worn paths, and year after year they resort to the same shallow pools, in which they are 

 fond of wallowing. 



As I have already mentioned, my opportunities of Bara Sing-shooting have been but 

 few, and when I have hunted them my efforts have not been crowned with much success. 



In August 1864, I tried the country on the Sindh valley side of the mountain of Harmuk. 

 Leaving the village of Chatargul on the 25th, after a long and steep march I encamped 

 on the open flat above the forest. Next morning I did not feel inclined to go out, but in 

 the afternoon, having sent my tent on a couple of miles, I went along the ridge of the hill, 

 reconnoitring the steep ravines which lay below. Before long a Bara. Sing stag was 

 discovered lying under a rock some distance down the hill, and I at once proceeded to 

 stalk him. When within thirty yards of the place I saw his head and horns above the 

 stone ; I could easily have shot him, but not wishing to spoil his head, I waited for a chance at 

 his shoulder. The stag, however, did not move forward, and presently his horns disappeared ; 

 I waited for a few minutes, and then, seeing nothing more of him, I crept carefully 

 down to the rock under which he had been lying. To my astonishment he was nowhere 

 to be seen. My Shikari having joined me, we both looked about and at last the Shikari 

 discovered the deer's horns sticking out from under the stone a little to our right. I silently 

 moved to the place and sat down on the rock above the horns, so close that I might have 

 taken hold of them by leaning over ! The horns, although quite hard, were not yet clear of the 



