I70 THE JOURNEY TO LADAKH 



valley along which our path lay was at first very narrow, 

 but soon opened out into a wide plain, with large snow- 

 beds in many places. Farther on we came to three tents, 

 surrounded by stone enclosures, closely packed with sheep 

 and cattle. There were several Lamas here. All this 

 country belongs to the village of Chumathang, which 

 belongs to the Lunias of the Hemis monastery ; that is to 

 say, they receive the revenues, and these flocks and herds 

 belonged to them. Lamas manage all the business. We 

 camped a mile farther up the stream, which, next morning, 

 I found completely frozen. The thermometer, in the warm 

 tent, was 32°, but the sun was not out an hour before all 

 signs of ice had disappeared, and at ten o'clock the heat 

 was unbearable ! 



I tried the hill-range on my right for nyan next day, but 

 saw only napu (the Tibetan name for barhal), and returned 

 to the valley to move camp a few miles higher up. I 

 shot a wolf on the way. I was lying down near the 

 stream late in the evening, resting, when a marmot spied 

 me and began piping. I was watching his jerky move- 

 ments through the glasses, when, presently, a dirty-looking 

 animal came trotting along the edge of the valley towards 

 the marmot, who disappeared. When the wolf got between 

 me and the marmot, I called, and he stood to look. I hit 

 him in the head with the '500 Express, and he fell dead. 

 To me the dead beast looked more like a hya?na than a 

 wolf. He was very old; the teeth were ground down to 

 the gums, and were hardly distinguishable. The pelage on 

 the back and sides was blackish on top, bluish below next 

 the skin, and whitish under the belly. The hair behind 

 was three inches long, under belly four and a half inches, 

 on the neck four inches, and under the neck five inches. 

 The tail was bushy, and seventeen inches long. The bullet 

 entered the right eve, and so smashed his head that I could 



