The greater part were unfinished, others had been
varied to suit the taste of the artist. When this tallied
with my preconceived notion I took the proffered
merchandise, and must acknowledge that all the purchases
I brought away with me have been things of joy
and enjoyment to me ever since. Where execution was
far from original design I politely refused, and, as this
is the understood agreement, none were disappointed
or annoyed, and buyer and seller retained that independence
which we as a people have such scant patience
for when exhibited by others than ourselves! An
expedition on the lake occupied one of my last days.
There the glorious lotus was in full beauty, and held
aloft their great crimson heads above the long-stemmed,
cup-like leaves, and swayed and swung gently in the
breeze, filling the air with their almond fragrance, and
standing out like flames from the dense greenery of the
lake growths.
Then, as befitted an idle person “ floating careless
on a silver sea,” I had much talk with a “ shikari ” of his
deeds of “ derring-do.” He had known the valley when
the rocks “ crawled with ibex,” and barasingh and
other deer were of no account in the land. The falling
into abeyance of the wise game laws of the late
Maharajah did much towards the extermination of the
game, and this has been accelerated by many sportsmen,,
unworthy of the name, who have been guilty of such
wholesale slaughter as driving deer in the snows, while
the native shikari and villagers, anxious for food or gain,
have netted for the sake of the meat or the trophies
large quantities of the finer species. Now game laws
and licences have been introduced, and it is to be hoped
that the number of game animals will cease to decrease.
Every help is given by the hospitable Maharajah and
his State authority to the genuine sportsmen, and some
of the finest stalking in the world may be enjoyed at
almost nominal outlay if the initial cost of arriving at
the good grounds is excluded. For this reason it is best
to wait till five or six months can be set aside for
shooting if expense has to be considered, then good
ground some distance from the main valley can be
reached, and if content to remain more or less within
touch of the base camp, large supplies need not be
moved, and the first cost of coolies and ponies, licences,
etc., are soon covered by the tiny outlay for keeping
“ life alive ” in those parts.
The life is not at all too rough for any woman
with ordinary health and ordinary appreciation of
out-door things, and, without attempting the more
difficult stalks, sufficient exercise and occupation can be
had accompanying her mankind in their near shoots,
perhaps carrying a rifle herself for bear, and looking
after the camp arrangements, mending, making, washing,
if domestically inclined, sketching, photographing,
or botanising, if testes run on other lines. A friend
accompanied her husband and another gun to Baltistan,
and she told me that during her six months she never
knew a dull moment. She shot three bears, and accompanied
many of the stalks after ibex and markhor,
sketched, sewed, washed, read, and wrote, and in spite
of being far from strong, and recently recovered from a
very terrible accident, did not know a day’s ill health.
The following notes about the chief game animals
were given me by a shikari frieiid, with many descriptions
of exciting chase, and are in accord with what
Colonel Ward, the great authority on Kashmir sport,
says on the same subject. I would also add that good