1843.] Trip to the Bulcha and Oonta Dhoora Passes. 79 



also, I might have seen Oonta Dhura. Small flakes of snow fell now and 

 then, and the weather was very cold. At 7h. 42m. started again 

 up the ascent, and on till 9 a. m., when on the side of a hill North of 

 me, and separated by a rather steep descent, one of my party spied a 

 herd of sixteen or twenty burral. We all lay down immediately, and 

 crept back over the crest of the hill, but unfortunately the burral had 

 seen us, and commenced slowly ascending the hill. I made the best 

 haste I could up the hill, keeping its crest between me and the burral, 

 until arriving at a spot opposite to where they were in a snowy 

 hollow. Now I should have gone still higher to a cragged peak, and 

 left a man to go below the burral, and drive them up when he saw me 

 at the top. Instead of this, the shikaree thought I could get close to 

 them by creeping across the intermediate space, covered by the side of 

 the hollow in which the burral were. I did as he wished, but the space 

 we had to cross was landslip, from which stones occasionally rolled 

 down in spite of all our care. The burral must have heard these, 

 and were ascending the opposite side of the hollow ; when getting 

 sight of me, they made towards the crest of the hill at once. 

 I saw them pass over, each in turn halting for a second or two 

 upon a small rock ; but a thick haze was drifting between them 

 and me, and constantly shut them out from my view ; owing to this 

 haze, the distance appeared to me greater than I afterwards found 

 it to be ; and as the burral are seldom to be approached a second time 

 after once being alarmed, I put up the second sight of my rifle and 

 took one shot when the haze was rather less dense than usual ; missed, 

 the bullet probably going too high, and almost immediately the haze 

 shut out every object within ten yards of me, so that I could not get a 

 second shot. The shikaree ascended the hill as fast as he could, but 

 was unable to perceive where the herd went ; and after going up to the 

 crest, I halted at 9h. 30m. for a cheroot, infinitely disgusted with my 

 bad luck in not getting one decent shot ; for firing through a cloud 

 can hardly be called one. Started at 9h. 48m., made a slight sweep 

 round to the West for the chance of seeing the burral again, but 

 in vain, and commenced the descent to Milum. The hill side was not 

 very steep, and consisted of one immense sheet of loose slate, an inci- 

 pient landslip in fact. I descended very fast almost at a run, snow 

 falling and biterly cold, East wind blowing. This changed as I got 



