266 THE UPPER BASPA 



A No. 3 shot was found in the neck of the ram ; Anparh 

 said that people travelling through the valley sometimes 

 bagged wild sheep with shot ! Anparh tried his best to 

 allure me back to the village with wonderful tales of 

 enormous rams to be found in the valleys near it. I was 

 too old to be taken in, but allowed him to go home for a 

 couple of days to keep him in good-humour. He was now 

 the most important personage in my party, as he knew tlie 

 pass and road into Tibet, and could speak the language of 

 that country. I began to see now that there was not two 

 months shikar in this valley — nor even ten days ; and I 

 was maturing a plan to steal over the Gugerang Pass into 

 Tibet, and perhaps, if I was lucky, to get a few shots at 

 Ovis ammon. Anparh was my stand-by, but he fought shy 

 of the idea, and displayed great apprehension whenever the 

 subject was broached, even in the most general way. But 

 by cautious handling, and bakshish, I was sanguine that I 

 and Yakiib would be able to bring him into a proper frame 

 of mind by the day when our dash across the pass was to 

 be made. We therefore humoured him a good deal. 



The thermometer at 4 p.m. was 48°, at 8 p.m. 30°, and 

 during the night it fell below freezing point, as a glass 

 of water on the table had a cake of ice on its surface. 

 This was not bad for the end of May at the bottom of 

 the valley, for these temperatures were taken inside the 

 tent. Next morning we went towards Di'mti, on the 

 path up the valley, to look for barhal, but saw nothing. 

 The road was bad in places, but fit for laden coolies. 

 Clouds were hanging about, and the cold increased, and 

 towards evening it came on to snow and rain, the 

 fall on the hill-tops being very heavy. The snow con- 

 tinued through the night, and the tents were covered. 

 The thermometer at 9 p.m. was 28°, at 6 a.m. next 

 morning 26°, and at noon 60°. It cleared up at last, and 



