HinduKoh Author:Donald Macintyre Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. Nowhere can a finer or a more invigorating climate be found than at an altitude of between 6000 and 8000 feet in the Himalayas, during the three m... more »onths that succeed the clearing up of the rainy season—about the end of September. The wild animals, too, are then in their best condition both for fur and flesh. The males would of course be better for food a month or so earlier; but as the natives highly prize venison at any time, it is never wasted; and the trophies, which the sportsman values more than the meat, are none the worse for the delay. The November mornings were crisp and frosty, and the days bright and clear, when I set out on a short hunting-trip of quite a different character to the one just described. My small retinue consisted of Kurbeer and another Goorkha lad carrying the guns, a cook, and four or five " coolies" (native baggage-porters), laden with a little tent, bedding, and the few requisites for a short sojourn in the wilds. We reached our destination—a hamlet near the foot of the hill we intended hunting over—in time to get everything " fixed up" before dark. On making inquiries about a guide for the ground, the village Nimrod—a comical-looking little man attired in an old black blanket, with a bit of rope round his waist supporting a small "koolharee" (wood-axe)—presented himself, and made his salaam. This bare-legged individual rejoiced in the name of " Baloo Mar," literally meaning " Bear-killer," which C by some former ! linn the fact of his she destruction of of making himself 3rous intention on is he was reported habits of its game hat in this respect besides being a a rule, a perfect x jj si n, an excellent and an adept in lijl'ft generally. His vision, too, is .jgfeusly acute; and Ability for quickly game, either in or far ...« less