﻿PHOTOGRAVURE 
  41 
  

  

  WESTERN 
  HIMALAYAN 
  HOME 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHEER 
  PHEASANT 
  

  

  Where 
  the 
  spires 
  of 
  tens 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  deodars 
  and 
  spruce 
  climb 
  the 
  mountains, 
  and 
  close 
  around 
  

   the 
  out-jutting 
  boulders, 
  the 
  hardy 
  Cheer 
  Pheasants 
  spend 
  their 
  days, 
  feeding, 
  sunning 
  themselves, 
  or 
  

   dusting 
  their 
  plumage 
  at 
  the 
  very 
  brink 
  of 
  the 
  precipices. 
  

  

  The 
  open 
  slopes 
  and 
  cliffs 
  are 
  steep, 
  and 
  as 
  I 
  climbed 
  them 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  the 
  Cheer, 
  I 
  had 
  to 
  cling 
  

   to 
  the 
  shrubs, 
  bright 
  with 
  clusters 
  of 
  scarlet 
  rhododendron 
  blooms, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  rocks 
  to 
  aid 
  my 
  unsteady, 
  

   shifting 
  footing. 
  For 
  yards 
  I 
  trampled 
  on 
  edelweiss 
  and 
  myriads 
  of 
  tiny, 
  pale 
  blue 
  forget-me-nots, 
  while 
  

   on 
  the 
  shady 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  rocks 
  begonias 
  carpeted 
  the 
  bare 
  surface, 
  their 
  dainty 
  pink 
  blossoms 
  waving 
  on 
  

   long, 
  curved 
  stalks 
  with 
  every 
  breath 
  of 
  the 
  mountain 
  breeze. 
  

  

  