1 86 NYAN (OVIS AMMON) SHOOTING 



down the bottom from a patch of snow above, and we 

 camped here, only on account of the convenience of this 

 water, but at noon it suddenly dried up as some dark and 

 heavy clouds shut off the sun from the snow-field ! This 

 was rather a sell, and I thought our water supply was cut 

 off, till to-morrow's sun warmed up the snow again. There 

 were small patches of coarse grass visible, but not a living 

 thing, though we came across some fresh nyan tracks after 

 passing over the crest ; probably those of the animals that 

 had been disturbed by my shooting on the other side. 



Heavy clouds were hanging about, but there was not 

 much wind. They must have brought their moisture from 

 the Indian Ocean and have come a long way. How did 

 they escape the great barrier of the Himalayas ? The 

 accepted notion is that the clouds which pass over the 

 plains of Hindustan impinge on the sides of this 

 huge range, and are precipitated in rain, the waters of 

 which flow back through the plains to the sea. I watched 

 these clouds for some days ; they all seemed to come from 

 the south-west ; great masses of them were constantly 

 passing over and going farther north : probably they are 

 finally used up in the " Chang-thang," or great plain, which 

 forms such a large portion of Tibet. This was the warm- 

 est camp I had been in since I have been travelling in 

 Ladakh ; it was quite hot during the day in the tent, and 

 at night very pleasant. We went out in the evening and 

 found the tracks of two nyan, evidently the companions of 

 the one I bagged ; they appeared to have crossed this 

 valley and made an attempt to get into the next, but the 

 black, rocky mountain sides in every direction discouraged 

 them, and, their fears having subsided, they apparently 

 went back to their favourite grazing ground, whence they 

 had been ejected by the kiangs. 



The little stream began to flow again at about four o'clock 



