172 THE JOURNEY TO LADAKH 



and thirty shawl goats. He was by profession a beggar, 

 and belonged to the province of Kham in Tibet. He ran 

 away from home when he was quite a young man — pro- 

 bably with the woman who was now with him. He was 

 a strong, good-looking fellow, who had a very lively way of 

 talking. Nothing betrayed his profession, except his pro- 

 fuse thanks and salutes with both hands to his forehead. 

 The tent arrived at nine o'clock, and soon we were all 

 snug. During the whole day I must have been wandering 

 at a very high level, as I found breathing very laboured 

 and difficult. Next morning, as I was having tea, Sarap 

 announced a flock of nyan behind the tent ! I rushed out 

 and counted six ewes and one small ram ; they were not 

 worth following, and I watched them till they disappeared 

 over the ridge at their leisure, grazing as they went, not 

 more than six hundred yards from the tent. The weather 

 was abominable, and prevented us from making a start till 

 eleven ; we then resumed our hunt, or rather search, but 

 snow came down again soon after we started, and the wind 

 was terrific ; we saw nothing all day, and made camp 

 lower down in the same valley. Next day we ascended 

 the range on the right of the valley, by a well-worn 

 kiang path, and on the way I discovered in the centre 

 of the path a^ neatly-made stone-pit for trapping animals 

 in the winter, when they come down to drink at the main 

 stream. We went down the other slope of the range 

 facing the lake on the regular road, by the Thaota-la pass 

 to Shiishal ; and having seen nothing, camped in a nala 

 leading down to the lake — the Mirpa-tso. We had 

 great difficulty about water — a load of snow had to be 

 brought down as a substitute. The surrounding hills are 

 black-looking, barren, and most forbidding, and the dead 

 lake, whose water is saline and smells abominably, lies in 

 the midst; there is a total absence of animal life of any 



