LEAVE SHUSHAL 195 



wanted on several criminal charges which had been 

 pending since his last visit, two years ago ! It appeared 

 that he had been plundering the people wholesale, beating 

 head-men, etc., and, when he was reported to the authorities, 

 ileserted his former employer and ran away, leaving the 

 latter to bear the brunt. He harried the country again 

 when I entered Ladakh, and I heard many tales of his 

 lawlessness while he was away from me at Lukiing and 

 other villages. He was a well-known character in these 

 parts. As soon as the head-man of Shushal recognised 

 Sarap, he sent information to headquarters, and the warrant 

 came down for him at once. This is the sort of rascal 

 who, with profit to himself, earns an evil reputation for 

 his employer in these out-of-the-way countries : such 

 scamps are seldom if ever caught, but their masters 

 have to answer for their iniquities, and compensate the 

 aggrieved parties as best they can. 



Heavy rain was continuous from the time I ceased 

 shooting in the Dong-lung : the " bangla " at Shushal was 

 no protection, and I had to sleep under my umbrella and 

 waterproof in the best room to keep dry. My little tent 

 was certainly more comfortable, and I was glad to make a 

 start ; wet though the weather was, it was pleasanter to be 

 out in the clean open country than suffer blue devils in a 

 leaky and evil-smelling mud hut. I had breakfast on the 

 road in wind and rain, and made camp at Khaktat 

 village, only a few miles from Shushal ; but before I could 

 get under the shelter of the tent, the sun was pouring 

 down; it was fearfully hot — such are the varieties of 

 climate in these regions ! In the evening it was stormy 

 again, dark clouds hanging all round, while the howling 

 wind lashed the broad Pangong lake into white-crested 

 waves. I had seen nothing of the beauties of this lake yet. 

 The descriptions I read had raised my expectations ; but 



