It is doubtless somewhat of a truism to remark that the love of travel and sport is inherent in every Englishman; and such being the case, I might as well at once inform my readers that, finding myself with a few months on my hands, I set out for Kashmir. But before I speak of Kashmir, I wish to make one or two remarks on the hunting grounds of the world.
Sportsmen may be divided into two classes: those who make a business of sport and those who simply seek it as a recreation. By the former I mean those men who, having no ties at home, no business to leave and no reason for a hurried return, go out to the uttermost parts of the world, little caring if they ever come back.
They can choose their own ground, their own time and their own way of living. They can live for the day, taking no heed for tomorrow; and when, now and then, one of this kind of hunter perhaps sinks on the far prairie, overcome by cold and fatigue-perhaps lies under a tropical sun, struck down by African fever or maybe falls a victim to an accident m the chase-when one of these disappears, his face is scarcely missed, for he had no ties at home. |
