176 NY AN (OVIS AMMON) SHOOTING 



a hill which, of course, is crowned by the inevitable gonpa, 

 or monastery. An open valley comes in from the west, 

 another from the south, — the road by which I came, — 

 another on the east. All these open fiat valleys combine 

 to form an extensive plain, with the gonpa on the hill in 

 the centre. Sprinkled over the plain were sheep, goats, 

 and ponies, with darkly-clad figures moving among them. 

 Nearer, in the fields, women were working ; and lounging 

 about the houses were dirty mangy dogs mixed up with 

 children in the same condition. The incomparable Tibetan 

 sky above, and Tibetan winds, also incomparable, tore over 

 the plain. The prospect had charms of its own for a 

 weary traveller just arrived from the dreary mountains in 

 the south — principally because it offers the opportunity of 

 a good rest. Supplies also were procurable, and it was 

 the nearest point to my first shooting ground. I halted 

 here for two days, and arranged for a trip eastwards up 

 the Tsaka valley for Ovis ammo7i. I discovered in the 

 village a very old man, who had been a good shikari in his 

 time, and who knew all the haunts of game in these parts ; 

 he was too old for active work now, but I took him with me 

 on a pony, and got a deal of information from him while 

 he sat in camp drinking my tea. Some men have a repre- 

 hensible habit of ill-treating those who go out with them 

 to show game, when, as frequently happens, no animals are 

 found at the spot or at the time when or where game was 

 promised. The sportsman who follows this short-tempered 

 gentleman is the real sufferer. The man who has been 

 roughly handled goes into hiding when he hears of the 

 advent of the next Sahib, feigns illness, or swears roundly 

 that no game has existed in his neighbourhood for years, 

 and thus the unoffending new-comer loses the help of, 

 perhaps, the only man who can show game. Old Tashi, I 

 am sure, had had some experience of this kind ; it was 



