188 WANDERINGS OF A 



work of extermination which has gone on from age to age, 

 until the animals have become extinct, save in wild and 

 sequestered regions, where his dominant sway has not yet 

 extended. 



The Cashmere stag stands about 14 hands in height ; the 

 upper parts are a ^ark brown or liver-colour in summer, be- 

 coming more hoary as winter advances. The inner sides of the 

 hips are reddest, and the belly and lower parts white. The 

 "male has large massive antlers, which are shed in March, and 

 are not properly developed or free from velvet until the end of 

 October. The most handsome heads have not the most points. 

 The horns that branch gracefully are in greater repute as 

 trophies than those of older individuals, whose antlers are 

 often irregular and badly-shaped. The hind gestates six 

 months, and when the hart is shedding his horns, repairs to 

 the depths of the forest, where she brings forth a single calf, 

 which retains the white spots until the third or fourth year. 

 The pine-covered slopes and jungles of the Duchinpara, 

 and valley of the Scinde river may be considered the head- 

 quarters of this deer. In the secluded depths of these soli- 

 tudes they lie all day, to issue forth at dusk and feed on the 

 grassy glades, descending even into the valley in winter, where 

 they may be seen around the villages, and are frequently 

 mobbed and killed by means of long bludgeons shod with iron 

 rings. The Cashmere deer is erratic, and seldom remains long 

 in one locality, but wanders from forest to forest according to 

 the weather and season. As summer advances the herds 

 mount to the limits of the forest, and by August are only to 

 be found on the mountain-tops and situations where they are 

 least likely to be annoyed by insects. It is only in the rutting 

 season that the sportsman is certain of success, when, winding 

 his way through the forest, the decayed twigs crackle under 



