CHAPTER XIV 



DONG (wild yak) SHOOTING 



Start oil the hunt— Shoot an antelope— The first dong track— Paljour takes 

 up the scent— A black spot in the distance— Resolved into a bull-yak— 

 Seventy yards range— I miss the target, four feet by six— The second 

 shot tells— The bull slows down— Circumvent him at last— A butcherly 

 business— The usual reaction— Piercing cold— The Tibetan gale— A 

 snowstorm— Exhaustion— Tea and blankets— No remedy— The frozen 

 dong— A splendid trophy— Bullets and their wounds— Hunting twenty 

 thousand feet above sea level— The temperature falls— No water 

 procurable— Yakiib's excitement over the dong's head and hide— A 

 keen sportsman— Invents a bow— And hunts the tailless Tibetan rat 

 successfully- Weight of the dong's head— Length of the horns— The 

 hunt continued— Tibetan gi'ouse- More wild yaks— A successful stalk— 

 •500 bore bullets and their effect on the dong— Shepherds and sheep- 

 How the Maharajah trades— The Champa robbers— Their depredations 

 —Varying temperatures— Three wild yak bagged in a week— A record 

 performance— Give up the hunt— Weights and measurements of heads 

 and horus— Details of cost of expedition. 



On the 10 th of August we started for Keipsang, with 

 four yaks and fifteen days' provisions, for a long search 

 after wild yak ; crossed the valley and went up gradually 

 to what is called the Konka-la in the map, a name which 

 is not known locally. The path runs just under the 

 conical red hill which is visible from Kiam camp, the 

 " pass " is just under it, and the Keipsang valley opens 

 out to view as soon as the crest is reached. The ascent 

 is hardly perceptible. Just as we topped it, Paljour spied 

 nine antelope on the stony plain below, and we went after 



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