IDIOTIC KIANGS 191 



evidently in abject terror, yet curiosity chained him to the 

 spot. He did not cease his attentions till the two nyans 

 were fleeing for their lives, frightened out of their 

 wits by his carryings-on. Then the kiang, having 

 discovered that we were harmless so far as he was 

 concerned, trotted peacefully away over a slope, in the 

 opposite direction, with, I trust, his mind at rest. But for 

 the fear of disturbing other game, that brute would certainly 

 have had a bullet through his hide. Another time we 

 came on a herd of kiangs in the course of a long stalk, 

 and had to roll and crawl for several hundred yards over 

 a very stony hillside to avoid them, but were in the end 

 detected, after my elbows, knees, and hands seemed worn 

 down to the very bone, and I was breathless to boot. On 

 another occasion I was in position, getting my wind to take 

 the shot, when a shout arose from the plain, and a party 

 of Tibetans came into full view. They were travellers on 

 ponies, proceeding towards Eudok. There had been a faint 

 tinkling of bells borne on the air for some time, which 

 had puzzled me greatly, and the mystery was solved when 

 the cavalcade came in sight — and the nyan disappeared 

 before I could get my shot. During the whole of this 

 week I bagged only one ovis ; he was the smallest of the 

 four I got, and gave me most trouble. I stalked two 

 nyan up to within three hundred yards, and could get no 

 nearer; they went to bed on the bare hillside for their 

 mid-day nap, and I had to await their pleasure for an 

 hour. I hit the larger of the two in the left leg, high up 

 in the fleshy part, but he went off as if untouched. A 

 long chase followed, which was brought to an end for that 

 day by a storm of sleet and rain ; the former punished me 

 dreadfully on the face, neck, and hands — the sensation 

 was like that of a charge of small shot at long range. 

 The sleet lay so thick that the tracks were lost, and we 



