HARDINESS OF TIBETAN PONIES 177 



with difficulty that I could get hold of him. And when 

 he did put in an appearance, he was most reluctant to have 

 anything to do with me. I left most of my things at 

 Shiishal, taking only a light camp for the shooting. 

 Chamiirti, too, was left behind for a rest, to get his feet in 

 order. The grass of these highlands has undoubtedly most 

 nourishing qualities. This hardy little beast went off and 

 on several times during this expedition, but never knocked 

 up. The important point is to know when to give them 

 rest. Their starvation experiences during the long winters 

 of their native land must be a good training. I hired for 

 riding a little Tibetan pony, which proved the most difficult 

 animal to ride that I ever crossed — there was so little of 

 him ! But he carried my twelve stone bravely, when a 

 steep climb had to be negotiated, or a long plain crossed 

 under the burning sun. My hunting ground lay on the 

 road from Shushal to Hank', and the road passes up a 

 broad and level valley, inclined to be swampy in its lower 

 parts. Droves of kiangs were numerous to the left of the 

 road, on the grassy flats, seeming quite at home, though only 

 a short distance from Shiishal. I saw quite two hundred 

 of them during the first march. 



When nearing Thinne-gongma (that is. Lower Thiune), I 

 made out three Ovis ammon at the mouth of a gorge on 

 my right. They were grazing on the slope of the hill just 

 over the edge of the plain, so I took Sarap with me for 

 the stalk. He made a mess of it. He had bad eyesight, 

 and was a bad climber as well as a cunning malingerer. 

 The game soon spied us, and were off at once. We were in 

 full view on the plain, and could not get cover enough all 

 the way, so the result could have been hardly otherwise. 

 At Thinne-gongma we found a spring of good water, and 

 pitched tent close to it. I felt rather out of temper this 

 evening : the principal cause was the non-arrival of my 

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