together the interesting spectacle of an angry man armed with a rifle, which he dare not discharge, for fear of alarming something worth firing at. Hints and persuasion are thrown away, and nothing but a declaration of war has the smallest effect on kyang. A skilful diplomat may occasionally gain a temporary advantage, by misleading kyang as to his intended route-getting the kyang, for instance, to believe that he wants to cross a particular pass, and then, by taking advantage of cover, escaping up a side ravine; but as a rule the sportsman has only the choice of two alternatives either to take the first opportunity of hiding and remaining hidden till the disturbance is over, or else going to some other part of the ground."

At the end of the plain, where the river flows out into a valley, on either side of which rise tiers of sandy hills, becoming more rocky as they get higher, stands a monastery, in the vicinity of which are to be seen a few small huts scattered about the edge of the plain, the abode of a few shepherds and goat-herds. We pitched the tents near the monastery, and the Ladaki whom I had brought from Gya, who according to his own showing was a man of priestly rank, took the opportunity of begging a few rupees in order to buy a sheep to offer as a sacrifice at the gompa, assuring me that good sport and a large bag of fine heads would then be ensured. I had my own idea as to the probable destination of the sheep, for Ladakis, in common with many other people, are fond of meat with their bread when they can get it; but I gave him the desired sum and sent him off to perform his sacrifice. He was an amusing fellow in many ways, more especially when he had no intention of being so, as when he went through certain religious observances, which he did

I GET RID OF MOHAMMED.

123

on every possible occasion. Frequently we used to come across piles of stones or horns at the summit of passes or in any equally convenient place, and whenever we chanced on one of these, he would stop, walk three times round the erection, falling flat on his face at the completion of each circumambulation, and generally wind up by tearing off a portion of his garment and attaching it to the cairn. My Kashmiris used to look on with scornful toleration at what they considered the follies of the infidel; but then the Kashmiri always was a supercilious sort of beggar, wrapped up in the cloak of his own superiority, and quite unable to realise what a far better fellow is the simple, honest Ladaki than his hypocritical rascally self.

I do not

wish to unduly run down the Kashmiri, and for the most part those with me served me well; but it is an unfortunate infliction to be unable to tell the truth, and hypocritical obsequiousness is apt to get on one's

nerves.

From the lamas I found I was able to hire fresh yāks for the baggage and a pony for myself. I also heard of a young Champa shepherd, camped about ten miles off, who was said to know the country round Hanle well and to be thoroughly cognisant with the most likely haunts of game, so sent a man off to find and bring him. This suited me very well, as I was tired of Mohammed, who was always trying to shirk his work, and had determined to be rid of him, more especially as he had been overheard telling the other Kashmiris that he had gone about as far as he meant to, and was

going to do his best to stop me going any farther. Accordingly the next morning I sent Saltana and the Ladaki off to look for game, telling them that I would follow, and then had Mohammed up. Having told him what I thought of him, I informed him that I no longer

required his services, and that he was consequently at liberty to go as soon as he liked. He tried to persuade Subhana to return with him to Kashmir; but he refused to be persuaded, and decided to remain with me, though I told him he might go if he was anxious to return to his home. After this I went out and joined Saltana, and after a tiring day, without a sight of game of any sort, returned to find Mohammed gone. I have no reason to suppose that he was worse than most Kashmiris who have the reputation of being excellent shikaries; but he was an old man, and I fancy felt the strain of a long and hard trip more than he was willing to admit.

Many authorities on shooting put Kashmiris at the top of the tree as stalkers; but whether under the term Kashmiri they include the tribes that live in the mountainous regions beyond the valley of Kashmir or not, I cannot say. As far as my own experience goes, I have no hesitation in saying that of a number of men who accompanied me in the capacity of shikarie, during the year I was shooting in the Himalayas, two stood out from the rest as far and away the finest stalkers I have ever seen one the Champa shepherd whom I had sent for, and who joined me a few days later, and the other a "Boota" or native of the district between Chilas and Hunza; and from my own experience, and from what I have gathered from others who know the country, I should say these latter would be very hard to beat both in their extraordinary capacity for getting over the most impossiblelooking places on some of the severest and most precipitous country probably, in which it is possible to pursue game, in the world, and in their natural genius for defeating by skilful stalking the object of their pursuit.

HIGH ALTITUDES.

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CHAPTER VII.

SPORT IN THE HANLE DISTRICT.

High altitudes-Gesso A flat crawl-Nyáй hit and secured — After Tibetan gazelle-Aggravating habits of same-An exciting crawl, and death of a goa-Another crawl and a stern chase-Death of another goa-Burhel sighted-And shot-Another burhel shotThird burhel shot-Return to Hanle-Fishing in the Hanle riverGesso's parent-Cussedness of the wind-A long chase ending in failure - On the fascination of the desert-Difficulty of judging distance-The Koyul valley-Gesso returns to his father-Crossing the Indus Trekking north- Shooshal.

FOR some reason or other I suffered from a sharp attack of what I suppose was the ailment known as mountain sickness, to which every one is liable at great altitudes, which took the shape of sharp pains in the back of the head; but as I found that when remaining quiet and doing nothing it only made itself more felt, I struck camp and left the Hanle gompa, marching east over rising ground all day. Nothing but a few female gazelle was to be seen all day, and in the evening we pitched camp at a tiny spring at a height of between 17,000 and 18,000 feet, the only water within a radius of some miles. It was a very tiny spring indeed, the supply of water being so microscopic that it had to be dished up with a spoon! and the amount that we could afford to waste on ablutions was infinitesimal indeed.

Late in the evening the young shepherd whom I had sent for, "Gesso " by name, arrived, and I paid off the Ladaki from Gya and allowed him to return to his home.

Early on the morning of the 8th I left camp with Gesso and Saltana to scour the arid uplands, which stretched away in every direction as far as one could see, in search of nyáñ, and by great good luck came upon a herd of ten rams within a couple of hours of starting. They were moving restlessly about, heading first in one direction and then starting back and turning off in another, which kept us where we were, watching them till they at length one by one began to lie down and appeared to be settled. We then proceeded to stalk them-no easy matter, for they were lying on a very flat bit of ground, and the wind, as is so often the case in Ladak, would not blow from any one quarter for more than five minutes at a time. However, after a great deal of crawling and worming our way flat along the ground-a most unpleasant process, during which an astonishing quantity of gravel and sharp stones succeeded in working itself through one's clothes and keeping one painfully alive to its presence we were so far successful as to approach within about 100 yards of the nearest beast; and working the rifle into position, I then waited where I was for one of them to get up; for as they lay, nothing but the top of their backs was visible.

The quiet steady shot for which I was waiting and hoping, however, was not to be; for all of a sudden, with horrid perverseness, the wind, which must have been blowing straight in our faces for nearly ten minutes, shifted right round and blew in a violent gust from straight behind us. Up got the rams in a body and went off without waiting a second.

I