WORK AND SPORT IN THE N.W.P. 61 
their grass shoes and tuck up the skirts of their long 
coats, you may know that some balancing feat is to 
be accomplished that justifies caution even on the 
part of these acrobats. Many dangers, too, exist for 
him who, unaccustomed to these wild mountains, 
would leave the known tracks in pursuit of game or 
other mterest. The streams, that are crossed almost 
dryshod at dawn, are from noon to evening, when 
the snow is melting, almost impassable torrents, 
where the water seems to grip your feet and tear 
them from under you; while the sand and gravel 
cuts into the flesh, and if happily you emerge, bleed- 
ing and breathless, from such an unexpected struggle, 
you will not again repeat the mistake that might 
have cost you your life. 
Shooting in the hills has, I confess, never had 
much charm for me, save that of climate and scenery, 
and both of these are, needless to say, superb; but 
the scarcity of animal life removes one special interest 
in forest work, while modern arms of precision 
render the shooting of a “gural,” a “thar,” or a 
“barhel,” chiefly a question of skill at a target; the 
quarry is in the open, and the difficulty lies in 
getting within a range, now in practice much 
shortened by the introduction of small-bore rifles of 
remarkable accuracy. To be successful, a man must 
enjoy walking on ground where a false step may 
mean extinction ; and accomplished as he may be in 
this art, his companions are infinitely more so, and 
their verdict upon the performances will always take 
into consideration that they are criticizing a “‘sahib,” 
and not a hillman. But the question of compara- 
tive joys of sport in the hills or plains of India must 
