~biIoeopb~t ttravcl, &c. - Journal of the Royal Army …jramc.bmj.com/content/jramc/4/4/520.full.pdfinteresting with reference to "shikar" in the Him'alayas. (1) The Moonal.-This beautiful

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RANIKHET AND THE DISTRICTS OF KUMAON AND GARHWAL.

By LIEUTENANT-COLONEL C. E. NICHOL, D.S.O. Royal Army Medical Corps.

(Continued from page 380.)

BRIM Tal, where lately they had a Boer camp,. lies in a com-. paratively open valley, with a hill to the south of the lake, rising

some 1,300 feet above its level. Further east in the same valley is N aUkutchiya Tal, occupying a hollow in the slope. Sath Tal, or seven lakes, lies within a circle of hills between Bhim Tal and the valley of the Naini Tal river, and Malwa Tal lies to the north of Bhim Tal in a deep valley, the sides of which rise up abruptly from the level of the lake. The fishing in these lakes, I think, is frequently overrated. N aini Tal is not worth fishing, and Bhim Tal, especially of late years, has been greatly overfished, consequently the fish are exceedingly shy and wary. Boats are generally obtained at all the lakes. The best seasons are from end of March to end of May, and from middle of September to middle of October. The fish are mahseer, averaging about2t Ibs., but run up to 5 Ib8. Fly is the best bait, but they sometimes like a small spoon. The natives are very fond of fishing with paste made of "atta" or flour, but 'I have never seen them do much execution in this line. Excellent mahseer fishing to be got at the Sarjoo river, notably at Bageswar, twenty-six miles /north of Almora. Here there is a good dakbungalow, with a resident" khansamah." The best fishing is three or four miles below the bungalow, and the mahseer run up to 40 lbs. and over. The best here is either live bait or a spoon, and best seasons end of May and beginning of October. There is still, even in these days of increased scarcity of game, very fair shooting to be got in the Ranikhet hills, but it is not too plentiful, and requires plenty of hard, honest work. Of course, the further afield one goes the better the bag, both for small and big game. Native " shikarries" still continue to effect a considerable destruction of the fast diminishing game, and we shall all 'welcome the, at present much talked of, game laws, if introduced by the Government 0

India, for the stricter preservation of the same. I give here a list

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of the game birds and animals which are to be obtained in the districts of Kumaon and Garhwal, but though I shall offer some remarks on their general distribution, and where they can be got, it is not my intention to enter into any detailed description of the same. For this I shall refer my readers to such well known books as Baldwin's " Small and Big Game of Bengal,'~ Kinloch's "Large Game Shooting in Thibet and Northern India," Hume and Marshall's" Game Birds of India, Burmah and Ceylon," Sterndale's "Mammalia of India," and the Badminti:m Library Volumes on "Big Game Shooting," all of which contain full and accurate information on the subject. I may also mention General McIntyre's "Hindu Koh," and Colonel Markham's "HimalayanShooting" (the latter, I believe, is now nearly out of print), as being especially interesting with reference to "shikar" in the Him'alayas.

(1) The Moonal.-This beautiful bird is rather scarce in Kumaon, but there are a few on Budk6t (9,000 feet), and facing Ranikhet. In the out-of-way spots in Garhwal, however, it is still plentiful and even abundant. Last winter, when Thar shooting in the higher ranges, at one place I used to see from twenty to thirty birds in the day, and what a glorious sight is an old cock moonal in full plumage as he comes hurtling down the hill-side in bright sunshine. No language can adequately describe his brilliant blue, green and purple metallic colouring-his beautiful bronze neck, white patch on back and chestnut tail. And what a thump he comes down, when you have held your powder straight. Ah! the intense delight of one's first moonal; it is almost equal to one's first tiger; or the first woodcock shot when a lad in the' dear old home, 7,000 miles away; all red letter days to be treasured up in one's memory. The moonal for the table is a disappointing bird, and the old ones are only fit for making excellent soup.

(2) The Cheer.-This bird is nowhere plentiful, and never found in any numbers. They like long grass, situated below rocky precipices, and I have sometimes found them amongst big boulders and rocks. The Cheer of all the Himalayan pheasants most resembles the home bird, as he is the only one with a IOJ?g tail. Last cold weather, when camped just outside the Gohna Lake, which was caused by the celebrated landslip in 1894, I went out for an afternoon's stroll with my wife, alas! without a gun: we had only gone a very short way from our tent when we heard something moving or scraping amongst the dead oak leaves. My spaniel at once darted in, and out came five Cheer, first an old cock, then two hens, and lastly a cock and hen, all affording easy shots. Such a chance at Cheer comes only once. I slept badly that night.



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(3) The Kalig.-This is the common pheasant of the hills, and is fairly abundant everywhere. He does not give you very good sport-he always flies down the khud, or up into a tree, and is a great runner. You want to have thoroughly trained dogs to make a decent bag.

(4) The Koklass.-This bird, though found in parts of Kumaon, essentially belongs to the higher ranges. He is a real game bird, and flies at a tremendous pace, and wants first rate shooting to cut him down. He is an excellent bird for the table. His peculiar cry of "koklass-pucrass" is heard when one makes a I:!tart at dawn in every direction, but as daylight advances he ceases to call. I have never shot more than a brace at a time.

(5) The Crimson Tragopan.-This beautiful bird is very scarce and shy in its habits. Only once during my many wanderings have I come across it, though I have occasionally heard its call. I was stalking an old buck Thar at the time, and in passing through some heavy jungle I suddenly met one, but of course I had only a rifle in my hand and could not fire. He frequents the thick bamboo jungle in the upper ranges just below the snow line. It is calleo "Loongi" by the Garhwalis, and has a peculiar note, somewhat resembling the bleat of a goat, which can be heard at a great distance. The skin is much sought after, and still commands a good price in the London market.

(6) The Snowcock.-This is a bird entirely confined to the higher passes and Thibet. He is a heavily-built bird, more like a partridge than a pheasant, but a very strong flier. The first Snow cock I saw, or "huinwal," as the natives call him, reminded me of nothing so much as an enormous seagull.

(7) The Black Partridge.-This well-known bird, which affords one so much sport in the districts in the plains, where he is to be found, is nowhere plentiful in the hills, but is to be found throughout the Himalayas from the foot of the hills up to the top nearly of the snow passes. His well-known cry can also be heard a great distance off.

(8) The Peurah Partridge.-This little bird also is nowhere plentiful, but in certain spots numerous enough. He likes thick scrub thickets, high up, and not far from the forest. He is difficult to flush without a good dog. I know. one particular spot in Garhwal where I can always pick up two or three brace of " jungli buter," as the natives call them. He is capital eating, and occasionally flies up into a tree. His call is a soft, though loud, whistle.



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(9) The Chukor. - This grand bird, which almost exactly resembles in appearance the" Frenchman" of Norfolk and the Eastern counties, gives, par excellence, the best sport of any in tbe Himalayas. He frequents the sides of bare rocky hills, interspersed with bushes, and I am glad to say he is still to be. found in good numbers in Ranikhet and neighbouring hills. He is the best bird of the lot for the table. Two sportsmen have just returned as I am writing this with the very respectable bag of nineteen brace. 'l'hose who have shot Chukor will know that this means a jolly long tramp and very straight shooting. You have got to be in first-rate condition to take a good bag of Chukor.

(10) The Snow Partridge.-This is a bird I have never shot, but he frequents the wildest spots amongst boulders, rocks, and crags, as the neighbourhood of the Niti pass, and is to be met with frequentJ.y on "burhel" ground.'

(11) The Woodcock.-The very name of Scolopax, what memories ·does it not conjure up! Yes, exactly the same bird that one shot in the old spinney years ago, that we meet with once again in these hills. He generally puts in an appearance here about the end of October, but is nowhere present in numbers. Last winter, while camped at Ramneer, about seven marches from Ranikhet, I had the intense satisfaction of bagging three brace one morning in a snowstorm. The birds had apparently all been driven the previous night by the storm into a ditch of about 100 yards long. It was so cold I could hardly hold my gun, and am sorry to say I let two couple off. Ye Gods! fancy seeing ten woodcock in almost as many minutes. What would some of our crack sportsmen at home say to this?

(12) The Himalayan Solitary Snipe.-This is a decidedly rare bird,· and I have only shot it on three occasions.

(13) The Indian Hare (Lepus indicus).-Though this animal exten~s through all the sub-mountain tracts up to 7,000 feet, and has been found on BudkOt (9,000); it is far from common, and I have not seen above a dozen shot, all told. It has occasionally been seen and shot on the U pat golf links.

(1) The Tiger (Fe lis tigris).-Though I have never had the luck to shoot a hill tiger I have had the opportunity of seeing some good skins. Those found well in the interior never leave the hills. They· are bulkier animals than those of the Terai, and have longer and more furry hair, and shorter and thicker tails. I thought my chance had come last December. I was camping out in Garhwal



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at about 9,000 feet, and one morning, very early, whilst looking for serow, we suddenly heard the sighing, bellowing noise made by a male tiger during the mating season. It is needless to say my " shikarri " and self (we were alone) nipped very expeditiously into the nearest respectable oak tree and waited events; but it was not to be; he passed above us about 70 yards off, and we only got a lightning glimpse. He went down an adjoining nullah, the intervening ridge between us completely shutting off our view. It was at this same place in the Sobha district three years ago that a tiger turned man-eater, and killed eight men before he was finally shot by two village" shikarries " over the eighth corpse by the aid of a lantern. They received a reward of 200 rupees from the Commissioner of the district.

(2) The Panther. - (3) The Leopard. - In differentiating the leopard and the panther as two different animals, I know many sportsman will not agree with me. It is possible so to arrange a series of skins, placing the larger varieties at one end and the smaller at the other, so that no oue can say which of those in the middle is a panther and which a leopard. Still, it is difficult to believe the small, insignificant, round-headed little animal of about 5 feet 6 inches in length is the same animal as the handsome brute which runs to over 8 feet, and almost as bulky as a small tigress. Both varieties are common in these hills, though it is not by any means easy to bring them to bag. They are very fond of dogs, which they are constantly carrying off. I shot a very fine specimen, measuring 8t ,feet when skinned, in my own garden, over a dog as bait; unfortunately he killed the dog with one blow before I could cover him. I wounded another sitting in a small detached building in the compound of the Station Hospital, also by moonlight, but unfortunately he got away, though we tracked him for a considerable distance. They are a regular pest in the hills and should be shot whenever possible. The larger variety has a well - marked ridge on the occipital bone, which is very rudimentary and almost absent in the smaller ones.

(4) The Snow Leopard.-One or two are generally to be found on the "burhel" ground about the Niti pass, but are not often bagged by sportsmen.

(5) The Himalayan Black Bear is common in these hills in certain years; in others it is very scarce. I have questioned many hill men regarding this fact, but have never received a satisfactory reply. He is an awkward customer when wounded at close quarters, and seems invariably to make for the face. Many of



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the hill men are to be seen bearing frightful scars, the result of encounters with this animal, and; as a rule, they like to give him a wide berth.

(6) The Wild Boar is fairly numerous in the oak forest ilp to great elevations (10,000 feet) and they run very big there. They often inflict considerable damage tp the crops, but are seldom shot.

(7) The Gerow, or Sambhur.-In these hills he is invariably called the Gerow, and, as a rule, has more massive and finer horns than those found in the Terai and Central India. He is to be obtained at no great distance from Ranikhet, but it is difficult to get a really good head, which is always a prize. The best I have shot measures 39! inches, and is beautifully symmetrical and massive. He is a shy beast, and requires very careful stalking. October is the best month to go after him ; then his horns are out of velvet, and the fallen leaves in the forest are not dry enough to make the crackling noise they do later.

(8) The Kakur is still very plentiful all over Kumaon and Garhwal in suitable localities; He is excellent eating. His hoarse bark is constantly heard dliring the night and day, but he seldom ventures out in the open. I think the horns run bigger in the oak .forests of the higher ranges, as compared with the pine forests of the middle zone. The best I have shot measure five inches (this is exclusive, of course, of the bony pedicle from which the horns spring, and which is covered with hair up to their base). .

(9) The Serow is found in most of the rocky hill forests from 3,000 to 9,000 feet. He is a most common, ungainly looking animal, like a cross between a pig, a deer, and a goat. He frequents gloomy nullahs, with rank vegetation, always near water. He is generally alone, but I have seen a couple together. His horns run to ten or twelve inches. He is a savage beast, and a pet one kept by an . Englishman, who lived in Garhwal, once attacked my "shikarri," knocked him over and inflicted a very severe wound in his loins, nearly piercing his kidney, and which'laid him on his back for two months. I have heard of four being bagged in Ranikhet last season, but have been unlucky in my pursuit of this animal.

(10) The Gooral.-This animal is still very plentiful, and is to be got within easy reach of Ranikhet, and most of our other hill stations. They frequent the steep grassy slopes of the lower hills, and shooting them is certainly a fascinating sport, though not comparable to that of the Thar.

(11) The Thar.-Of all the animals which I have shot, I can safely say that the one which has given me most pleasure is a fine

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old buck thar. This splendid wild goat, who stands about 3t reet high, is found throughout the Himalayas, just below the snow line, but not so high up as the burhel. If you are possessed of a firm foot and a good head, and do not mind ri sking your neck half !1 dozen times a day, then th e pu rsu it oC the t.hat' is fa.scinatin g in the exLl'erne. :fIe requires very ca,l'efu1 stalkin g, and the old ones

FIG. S.-'rhe 'l'har (Hemitrll{Jlts jcmiaic'llS).

frequent really villainous ground, as bad, every bit, as ibex gronnd. To successfully stalk an old thaI', in the cold months when he has on his beautiful cape which hangs dow n to bis knees and which he sheds during the summer months, I consider the a.cme of shooting. Whether it is the glorious ail' one bre"thes, th e magnificent scenery all round, and the successful stalk accomplished, or all combined, one experiences on sueh occasions a strange sense of exhilaration and satisfaction. 'rhe thar is generally to be got at from 10,000 to 13,000 feet on the summits of tbe middlc mnges in the banks of rocky ravines destitute of forest. 'rbc fcmalc and smaller buck are always to be found on easier ground. 'l'hc best I have bagged



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measured 12i inches, but the horns, which are trigonal in shape, are really the most insignificant feature of the animal. I used often to look at .the picture in the Badminton Library volume, called "A Dream of Thar Shooting," and wonder if it was not grossly exaggerated. After spending a couple of months at the' game, I came to the conclusion that it was not so far removed from the real thing. After all, if you do get into a really tight place, you can console yourself with these lines of that born sportsman Lindsay Gordon, whose short career came to such a tragic end :-::-

"Nogame was ever yet worth a rap For a rational man to play, Into which no. accident, no mishap Could possibly find its way."

(12) The Burhel.-This animal, which is a truesheepi inhabits the' highest ranges, and will be found generally 'on the. rich grassy slopes, watered by the melting snow. He is an exceptionally wideawake gentleman, and will test your stalking powers to their utmost. A good head runs,to 25 inches or more; Burhel will not be found below the large village of Malasi on the Niti ,route, and now-a-days one has to go further afield for a really good head.

(13) The Musk Deer.-This little animal, which possesses no horns in either sex, is found also in the higher ranges, from 8,000 feet up to the forest limit.. It is ruthlessly pursued and. snared by the hill-men for the sake of its musk pod, which contains the wellknown perfume. Even the droppings of the ,male are strongly impregnated with. this odour, a fact which I have verified, but never seen recorded in any sporting book. Curiously enough, the flesh, which is excellent eating, is never tainted in this way. It is a rare little animal, and I have only seen ten or twelve, and shot one, during my many wanderings in the hills. It used to be common in Kashmir, but now it is strictly preserved in that country. Only the full-grown male possesses the musk pod.

I have purposely omitted from the accompanying list the game found in the Terai, which forms the southern boundary of Kumaon; but in that portion of it known as the Kumaon Terai, I have bagged at various times the following additional animals and birds. The cheetul (Axis maculata) , the para or hog deer (Axis porcunis) , the nilgai or blue bull (Portax pectus), the swamp deer or ghond (Cervus duvancelli), the, wild cat (Fe lis chans), the Bengal florican (Sypheotides bengalensis), the kyah or swamp partridge (Ortygonnis gularis), the wood snipe (Gallinajo nemoricola), the red jungle fowl



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(Gallus. ferrugineus) and the common quail (Coturnix communis). Other mammals to be found in these hills are the Himalayan langoor and the Bengal monkey, the hill fox, the jackall (though plentiful round Ranikhet, he does not extend very far into Garhwal), the wild dog, the porcupine, and high up on the snow line, the marmot. In addition the pine marten is very common, and most destructive to small game; he has a handsome fur, and generally two or three are found in company; on one occasion I saw five together. Another very interesting animal, which I never met with till last year, is the flying squirrel (Pteromys petaurista): He is found quite high up in the forests, about 8,000 feet, and is quite nocturnal in his habits. He is a curious animal, about three feet long, with a beautiful silky brown fur, and light coloured belly. They have a loose fold of fur stretching on each side from front to hind legs, which they spread but like it parachute and use as wings; and they can fly about thirty yards in a slanting downward direction. They fly in this way: alight on a tree, run up it, and then fly downwards to. an adjoining tree. 1 once shot fourteen of them by moonlight, and I fancy they were attracted from the .surrounding forest by the light of my camp fire. Excepting another single specimen which I shot, this is the only occasion on which I have met them. They feed on the young shoots of trees, nuts and acorns.

Of snakes in these hills, Dr. Watson has collected twenty-three species, eight of which are venomous; the latter includes Babora russellii, two of which were recently killed by my friend, Major T.; on Budk6t, 9,000 feet, a hill due north of Ranikhet. The python· is also to be met with, and I have heard of it at 8,000 feet in Garhwal.

Of birds, J ordon enumerates over two hundred species as found in these hills, and probably the number could be greatly increased. Many of the permanent residents, which summer in the' higher ranges, _ are found in the winter months in the· sheltered glens. It is in the upper forests of oak; birch, spruce, walnut and chestnut that we find feathered life most numerous. In and around Ranikhet they are not in great abundance, but the well-known notes of the Cuckoo (Ououlus striatus) are to be heard in the station during the hot months. He never calls in the rains and cold weather, and I do not know where he migrates to then. The Indian minivet (Pericrocot·us speciosus), that brilliant little morsel of bright scarlet, with his orange-coloured mate, is to be seen flitting about the pines in the station in the winter months, and also various brightly-plumed members of the jay tribe. Higher up in Garhwal the' tits, finches,



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warblers, bulbuls, &c., are very nqmerous, and on one occasion I was delighted to recognise an old familiar friend, the missel-thrush.

Of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera there are great varieties and numbers, and I am sure there is here for any keen entomologist a wide field for observation and research. Many of the soldiers, and occasionally officers, of the garrison make beautiful collections of butterflies and moths during their sojourn here - perhaps not scientific collections, but still very pleasing to the eye.

Garhwal, of which such frequent allusion has been made, is the adjoining district, and is bounded on the north by Thibet, on the east by Kumaon, on the south by Bijnor, and on the west by Tirhi, or native Garhwal. It comprises an area of 51500 square miles. It is essentially a land of mountain, dale and stream, and reminds one in parts of the wilder scenery of the Highlands; ~rawling streams and rushing torrents, and an Alpine climate, and the wonderful panorama of the eternal snows ever before one's eyes; what can one wish for more? The inhabitants are a sturdy, active race, chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, and are much superior to the lazy Kumaonis. You can always tell a Garhwali coolie from a Kumaoni one; the former invariably carries his load on his back by means of slings, as any sensible man would. The latteI; always places the burden on his head, supporting it by a bandage round his forehead. The Bhootiyas are another race quite distinct; they inhabit the districts adjoining Thibet already named, as well as the Niti and Milam valleys. There are several different clans of them, who do not intermarry. They are the great traders between Thibet and India, and though many of their habits resemble those of the Thibetans, with whom they have free intercourse, they still more closely resemble, in most of their customs, the inhabitants of Garhwal. When in Thibet they are to all intents and purposes orthodox Buddhists; when they come down this side they pay reverence to all the numerous hill deities and conform generally to the opinions of those whose company they are in. They speak a language of their own; though those who come down every year can talk Hindustani all right. They are fair, with a Mongolian caste of feature, are excessively dirty and never wash, thoroughly appreciate a joke and possess the fattest babies I have ever seen. They are always to be met with going backwards and forwards up to the passes with their flocks of laden goats and sheep. These wonderful little beasts carry salt, borax, and wool from Thibet down to the Indian plains, and return with the bartered articles, sugar, grain, tobacco, &c., every day, from October to April. Each



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animal, according to its size, ca.rries from 10 to 20 Ibs. in two little bags across its pack-saddle. At the end of the dn.y's march these are taken off and piled up in n. neat heap and the gO[l.ts turned out to graze; they are brought b:tck in tbe evening "nd enclosed in a zareba of bushes and guarded from leopards and other '\-'lId animals by a powerful Thibetan dog, one 01' more of which accompany each flock ; these dogs are great, hairy brutes, with bushy tails, pointed noses, and cars like a very big sbeep dog, and similar in colour, and very savage. It is a curious sight to see the flocks meeting on a narrow path and going in opposite dil'ections. They pnss each other

FIG. 4.-The "tra.ders" of the Himala.yas.

without the slightest hesitation or numbers from one to two hun(h·ed. bred both in Kumaon and Tbihet.

confusion. The flock generally These goats are, I understand,

The inhabitants of Kumaon and Garhwal are Hindoos almost to a man, and in the latter district are many holy places, including the famous shrines of Badrinath and Ked:1rn:1th. 'rllC former is the head source of the Ganges in the group of lofty peaks known as Gangobri. The village where the temple is situated is 10,284 feet above sea level and 25 mi les south of the Mana pass. The pilgrims yearly assemble at TIurdwar and proceed by Kedarnath and Badrinath



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and borne by Nandpmy:tg and Karnprayag. Tbe route is a long, difficult and tedious onc, but the Hindoo is above 0,]] tbings a pious devotee, and no perils will put him off his journey. What rccks he if he perish on the journey, falls into the swollen torrent, dies of hunger on the \ ..... :1y, 01' is stl'lcl<en down by cholera on the homeward journey '? Nothing; he has been and \\lashed away his sins in holy Gunga, \\.'hel'e the sacred stream issues fron1 its glacier source. Thousands flock here annually from 1111 parts of India ; many a time

FlO. 5.-Hindoo devotees en route to Dadrinath.

have I watcbed them on tbe road, It motley crew of young and old, maimed and sick, strong and fceblc, all travelling along these 1ll0UU

tain patbs. Many are cloth cd in rags, others, of tbe wealthier classes, a,re, with their women folk, being ca.rried jn If kiltas" and baskets on the hacks of sturdy coolics. Surely a stranger sight caunot he witnessed anywhere.

'rbere are several passes into Thibet, hut the best known one on this side is the Kiti, thirtecn marches from Hanikhet . The pass is



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at an elevation of 16,628 feet above the sea level and is open from the latter end of June till the second week of October. The best description of a visit to the Niti pass which I have read is that written by Batten, Commissioner of Kumaon from 1840 to 1850, and which is duly recorded in one of the old Government Gazetteers, but I cannot say in which volume. He graphically describes the intense suffering he went through from the rarity of the air at 17,000 feet, and how he was threatened with suffocation at almost every step he took whilst crossing the pass, and also the magnificent scenery he viewed from the various points in his eventful journey.

NOTE.-Authors consulted in the compilation of the above paper: Crooke's "North-West Province of India," Webber's "Forests of Upper India,"'Baldwin's " Small and Large Game of Bengal," and various Gazetteers and Blue Books of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.



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RANIKHET, KUMAON. 6,069 FEET ABOVE SEA-LEVEL. LATITUDE N. 29° 38'. "LONGITUDE E. 79" 29'.

January Feb. March April May June July August Sept. Oct. Hov. Dec. Year

-----------------------------------Monthly mean excess temperature of the solar

thermometer above the maximum in shade 61'1 60'6 62'6 60·4 60'3 57'1 50'8 52'1 59'8 57'3 52'7 55'7 57'5 Monthly mean depression of the grass ther-

mometer below the minimum in shade •. 14'5 13'6 13'9 13'3 12'0 9'0 5'3 6'0 8'9 13'5 17'2 19'1 12'2 Mean monthly and annual temperature •• 46'1 49'2 56'3 65'2 67'8 71'3 67'9 67'2 66'4 61'0 55.7 50'2 60'4 Mean diurnal and annual ranges of temperature 16'1 17-0 18'2 18'6 18'1 15'0 11'2 10'9 13'1 15'3 17'2 16'1 15'5 Monthly and annual means of pressure •• 24'096 24'076 24'070 24'066 24'010 23'932 23'926 23'959 24'023 24'106 24'157 24'134 24'046 Mean diurnal and annual ranges of pressure* '068 '064 '056 '060 '056 '052 '052 '055 '058 '060 '057 '058 '055

{ S. s. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. S. Mean resultant wind directions .. .. 81° 54° 57° 63° 63° 750 77° 72° 61° 63° 56° 60° -

W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. W. Monthly mean tension of aqueous vapour " '190 '203 '235 '264 '341 '472 '597 '593 '536 '334 '253 '199 '353 Approximate mean humidities .• .. .. 60 58 52 39 49 61 85 86 79 60 53 54 62 Average proportion of cloudy sky in tenths of

8'42 1'31 the expanse .. .. .. .. . . 3'66 4'42 3'78 3'34 3'58 5'41 8'58 5'64 1'69, 2'99 4'40 Rainfall .. .. .. .. .. . . 1'64 2'61 1'60 1'62 3'11 5'81 13'69 11'11 5'05 0'78 0'08 1'18 48'28

* Diurnal range, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

DISTRICTS OF KUMAON AND GARHWAL. SMALL GAME. BIG GAME.

I.-The Moonal Pheasant (Lophophorus impeyanus). 1.-The Tiger (FeU,(J) tigris). 2.-The Cheer Pheasant (Phasianus wallichii). 2.-The Panther (Felia; pardus). 3.-The White-crested Kalig Pheasant (Gallophasis albo-CrfAltatus). 3.-The Leopard (Felia; leopardus). 4.-The Koklass Pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha). 4.-The Snow Leopard (Felix uncia). Garhwal only. 5.-The Crimson Tragopan, misnamed "The Argus" (Oeriornismelanocephala). 5.-The Himalayan Black Bear (Ursus tibetanus). 6.-The Snow Cock (Tetrogallus himalayensis). 6.-The Wild Boar (Sus indicus). 7.-The Black Partridge (Francolinus vulgaris). 7.-The Gerow or Sambhur (Rusa aristotelis). 8.-The" Black-throated, Hill, or Peurah Partridge (Arboricola torgueola). 8.-The Kakur, or Barking Deer (Oervalus aureus). 9.-The Chukor (Oaccobis chukor). 9.-The Serow (NemorrhaJdus bubalina).

1O.-The Snow Partridge (Lerwa navicola). 1O.-The Gooral (NemorrhaJdus goral). 11.-The Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola). 11.-The Thar (Hemitragus jemlaicus). 12.-The Himalayan Solitary Snipe (Gallinago solitaria). 12.-The Burhel (Ovis nabura).l 13.-The Indian Hare (Lepus indicus). 13.-TheMuskDeer(Moschusmoschiferus). Garhwalonly.



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~biIoeopb~t ttravcl, &c. - Journal of the Royal Army …jramc.bmj.com/content/jramc/4/4/520.full.pdfinteresting with reference to "shikar" in the Him'alayas. (1) The Moonal.-This beautiful