Hangul 87 



of the Kishanganga river (Tilel). The herds which strike the river at its 

 nearest point below Gurez cross it, and retire to the range of hills on the 

 southern border of Astor. Only a very few stags cross this range, the bulk 

 of the deer remaining on the Kashmir side. The deer on the northern 

 and eastern sides of the valley retire to the slopes of Haramuk and the 

 high ground south of the range which separates Kashmir from Dras and 

 Suru, but do not appear to cross it. The farther east one goes from 

 Srinagar the less the deer appear to migrate, merely retiring to the heads 

 of the valleys. The altitude of the birch copses just above the limit of the 

 pines is what they seek, and this they can find close at hand on the north 

 and east of the valley, but they have to travel some distance to it on the 

 west." None are found on the Pir Panjal range, forming the southern 

 barrier of the Kashmir valley. 



In June I have seen hangul close to the summit of the Zogi-la, the pass 

 between Kashmir and Dras, at an elevation of 1 1,000 feet ; but by the time 

 the antlers are free from velvet they descend to much lower levels. By 

 September the antlers of the stags are clean, and about the 20th of that 

 month calling begins, although the date of its commencement depends 

 somewhat upon the season and the weather. Although the older writers 

 on Himalayan sport, like Colonel Markham, speak of hangul calling 

 throughout the day, at the present time they only do so in the mornings 

 and evenings, commencing in the late afternoon. During the calling-season 

 stags may frequently be seen escorting a party of hinds into the open glades 

 between the patches of forest, and it is then that the sportsman finds his 

 best opportunity. These deer seem by no means to confine themselves to 

 a single forest, but are much given to wander from one belt to another. 

 The calling-season generally ends by the latter part of October, after 

 which the stags are exceedingly difficult to find, until the snow drives 

 them down to the open country of the Kashmir valley. The fawns are 

 born in April. 



Although the term Barasingha (12-tined), or occasionally Burrasingha 

 (big-horned), is applied to these deer by Kashmiri shikaris, they never use 

 it when conversing among themselves ; and it has been imported from the 

 plains of India, where it properly belongs to the swamp-deer. 



