UNSANCTIFIED CHOPS 271 



as the ground was very much broken. While the animals 

 were clambering up the rocks above us, I had three snap- 

 shots, but missed ; the sun was low down, and blazing 

 full in my eyes, so I had not a fair chance. Keturning 

 late, long after sundown, Anparh spied some ewes across 

 the river a long way off, and, as meat was wanted in camp, 

 I had another shot, but the bullet fell short ; the distance 

 must have been over 300 yards. I had four hours' 

 good rough walking and scrambling, and did it well, 

 though the cold in my head had by no means left me. 



The next morning I was more successful : I got a wild 

 sheep after a long and tiresome stalk. Yakub declined to 

 go down and cut the animal's throat, so Anparh and his 

 friends (including myself) had the meat all to ourselves : 

 there were glum faces among the Balti coolies ! A great 

 deal of fat came out of this barhal, and the chops I had 

 for dinner were capital. Now that I had drawn blood in 

 the dominions of His Majesty Kardu, Anparh thought the 

 time had come for the usual offering, but he was con- 

 siderate. Instead of demanding silver, he asked for two 

 seers (four pounds) of flour and a quarter of a seer of ghi 

 (butter). I was informed that when Wilson Sahib came 

 here five years ago he was taken seriously ill, and had to 

 offer a goat to Kardii before he got well. It struck me 

 at once that Anparh was making capital out of my recent 

 illness ; but I did not demur, and the articles were weighed 

 out to him. If I could get this primitive man to lead me 

 across Giigerang into Tibet, even for a few days, I should 

 regard it as ample recompense. 



On the 1st of June I started for a four days' tramp 

 among the hill-tops, the only way, apparently, of circum- 

 venting the old rams. After a tremendous grind of three 

 and a half hours we made camp on an open grassy space 

 under the great peak, 21,221 feet high, which overlooks 



