KASHMIR AND LADAK 
Those intending to try Kashmir should write some time in advance for 
the most recent copy of the game regulations, which may be obtained from 
the Game Warden, Game Preservation Department, Srinagar, Kashmir, 
as nearly every season it is found necessary to make some changes in the 
laws. 
The visitor need take nothing into the country with him except his rifle, 
ammunition and personal clothes, as all the necessaries of life can be pro- 
cured in Srinagar, and there is a tourist agency there, where tents, furni- 
ture, etc., may be hired for the trip at a very moderate cost. Quite good 
shikar clothes can be made in Srinagar in a day or two, of the native cloth 
called puttoo , which is very suitable for the purpose; but well-nailed boots, 
with a supply of dubbin to keep them soft, should be taken. 
For a single sportsman, one man as cook and general servant should 
suffice, and it is better to engage him in Rawal Pindi than to chance finding 
one in Srinagar. On engagement he is sure to demand a sum of money 
for warm clothes, which he does not generally devote to that purpose unless 
made to do so, and this is one of the impositions that the traveller in the 
East has to put up with. 
The visitor will have no difficulty in finding a native shikari to accom- 
pany him, in fact they are more numerous than the game. The majority of 
them are fairly good, and some are excellent; but to be quite sure that 
they are genuine it would be as well to consult some local resident before 
definitely engaging one, as the chits or characters they produce may have 
been purchased in the bazaar. 
In Kashmir one can always get hold of a man who knows the game, and 
it is a great comfort not to have to break in a wild native and make him 
understand that good heads and not young bucks and does are what the 
sportsman wants to kill; with a good man, also, one is not put off the shot 
by the tugging of the coat-sleeve and the muttered “ Shoot! shoot! ” of 
the untrained native hunter. 
Most of the shikaris are fairly proficient in the use of the telescope, and 
will often restrain you when on the point of firing a long or risky shot on 
the plea that you will get a better chance another day. As a man the Kash- 
miri often leaves a good deal to be desired, but taken all round as a hunter 
I have seldom met with better. 
Of course, the Ladaki, or native of Astor and Gilgit, is a better man in his 
own country, and has the further merit of possessing less guile; but a really 
good Kashmiri shikari will save the visiting sportsman a vast amount of 
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