132 A MOUNTAIN MISCELLANY 



gauged by the display of copper pots, plates and 

 vessels which they hold. A huge spear eight or 

 nine feet long usually occupies a corner of the 

 " hall," and at the entrance the section of a tree 

 hangs, which is supposed to keep out all witchcraft 

 and evil influences. Overhead, in the big beam 

 running across the room, were the eight precious 

 things, gold, silver, and jewels which are always 

 to be found in Thibetan houses. In the larger 

 houses, which, from above, resemble enormous 

 cardboard boxes with a raised lid in the centre, a 

 gallery runs round the upper story, containing 

 rooms. The " well " in the middle is left open. 

 The roofs are flat, and on them the corn and grain 

 are winnowed. 



We stayed at Archuen for a week, our main 

 object being to obtain specimens of the mountain 

 sheep. The climbing was pretty stiff", grass slopes 

 and saddles leading one to rocky tops 11,000 to 

 12,000 feet above sea level. We calculated that 

 the big stone range to the south must have been 

 something over 15,000 feet at the highest point 

 which we could see. The highest point we reached 

 was probably a thousand or fifteen hundred feet 

 below this. 1 saw one lot of sheep on my first day 

 out. The ram had one good horn which I could 

 clearly see as he stood on a pinnacle of rock on the 

 skyline and looked down on us. We tried a stalk, 

 but the sheep were too quick and slipped do^^^^n a 

 cleft in the rocks which I should have thought im- 

 passable to any living animal just as we reached the 

 top of the cliff". George saw twenty-two sheep, in- 

 cluding three good rams, but could not get a sliot. 

 I hunted this ground for several days, but saw 



