HUNTING THE IBEX.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19720, 20 August 1927, Page 2 (Supplement)

HUNTING THE IBEX.

ADVENTURES IN HIMALAYAS.

AMID THE ETERNAL SNOWS.

" HARDER WORK THAN WAR."

TIBETANS' HORROR OF CAMERA

Captain A. G. i. A. Goddard, of the Punjab Infantry, has recently been in England on leave after three months in the Himalayas shooting ibex at a height from 10,000 ft. to 20,000i't., amid the eternal sntrvs During his expedition with Captain R. Cooke, of the same regiment, they had tho rare good fortune to bag five of these exclusivo animals.

In an interview Captain Goddard related the first story of his adventures. He said, "You can gain some idea of the hardships we went through by the fact that %vhen 1 started i weighed 14st., and when 1 got back to civilisation with a three months' beard I weighed only list. 61b. On the way up we found the Tibetans willing to do anything for us for a rupee except to face the camera. It took me three hours to get one group of villagers to pose for me They are in describably filthy, live in huts reeking with sour smells, and smoke, and exist chiefly on goat's ttesh and apricots, which grow there in profusion and are dried on the roofs of the houses.

"We had to cross nullahs of icy cold water as many as ten to a dozen times a day, and one* of our coolies was swept away in a mountain torrent. I managed to get to him just in time to rescue him, but our journey was delayed through having to patch him up. Those Awful Solitudes.

"The coolies, were both patient, plucky, and worked wonderfully hard. Although they were not afraid to climb precipices with yawning chasms thousands of feet below them, (hey yelled in terror and called upon Allah when he had to cross the Indus on inflated goatskin rafts, which spin round with you like a top in the rushing currents. "In crossing the Deosai Plain at 15,000 ft., where many have perished in storms, Jor there is no shelter, wo were very fortunate in having fine weather. We started on our treks amid those awful solitudes at three o'clock in the morning, Captain Cooke taking one route and I another so as not to interfere with each other's sport. The Ibex herds come down from the precipices to the plains to feed in the early mornings and late evenings, and it is necessary to work round them to the leeward side and get above them, for if they get wind of you or hear the slightest sound they are off like lightning, and will climb a thousand feet in no time. A Curious Experience. "What adds to the difficulty of stalking them is the rarefied atmosphere, which makes distances so elusive to the eye. One day I was rewarded in the early dawn by the sight of Ibex. I was shivering with cold, and as I handled my 4.75 Mauser I must confess to trembling with apprehension lest I should miss my aim. tlowever, I brought down a beauty, with horns measuring 47in., which is a good average. We bagged four more good specimens between us, and were going on in search of 'Markoi' when we were recalled from leave. " I had a curious experienco on my way back. I called at a native post oflice at Skardhu, hundreds of miles from anywhere, and asked for letters I had arranged to bo forwarded. After an absence of three months 1 was surprised to be told that there was nothing for me. As I was leaving the place, I met an Englishman on a native pony holding a bundle of parcels and letters and telegrams. He said to me: 'Does your name happen to be Goddard by any chance' ? I said it was, and ho told me he was also a Captain Goddard, of the Indian Army, and by mistake he had opened all my letters and parcels. It was a strange coincidence, for we happened to be the only two Englishmen in that remote spot at the time. Wealthy American's Delicacies.

"Another amusing surprise awaited us on returning to our headquarters. In the distance I was astonished to see camp fires burning as we descended into the plains, and palatial tents nothing like tho shabby ones I had left behind. I found a small army of coolies and a rich American out for game and cinema pictures. Ho looked like some potentate in high-logged boots polished to perfection. Ho had carpets on the floor of his tents, petrol lamps, all kinds of delicacies, drinks, cigars, and a great baggage train carrying filtered water and a battery of petrol tins. "Hs was as spick and span as though he was in the West End, but we were in rags, with grass boots* a three-months beard, and famished through living on 'J" 01 } rations, and such chickens and goat s flesh as we could get from the hill tribes. You can imagine what a welcome oasis this was to us, and we spent four days helping to regain our weight, I came back to civilisation feeling that the task of stalking Ibex at 20,000 ft. is harder work than actual war, but, all the same, I shall go again if I get the chance.