CHAPTER VII

SPORT

Srort is one of the chief attractions of Kashmir. Every year, like the swallows, with the coming of spring, tonga-loads of ardent sportsmen begin swarming into the country. Nowadays they can- not, as formerly, shoot wherever they like and as much as they like; and in their own interests it is well they cannot, for if they still had the’free- dom of former days no game would now be left. For some years past a Game Preservation Depart- ment has been formed by the Maharaja, and placed under the charge of a retired British officer, that keen sportsman Major Wigram. Licences to shoot have now to be taken out, and regulations for sportsmen are published annually. Certain locali- ties are strictly preserved for the Maharaja’s own use and for the entertainment of his guests. Others

are kept as sanctuaries. The number of head of 193