3i6 A MARCH IN TIBET 



came up from Ni'lang that evening : one was the brother 

 of the jemadar (petty officer), for many years in the 

 service of a well-known European sportsman of the last 

 generation, who spent most of his life in these parts. 

 He was an old man, very friendly and communicative, and 

 unusually intelligent ; he had many stories about gentle- 

 men who had come here for sport. He said one of them 

 went up the valley which I explored to-day and brought 

 back five splendid rams in one day ; but he did not get 

 back to his camp till midnight. 



Next day, at a camp on the Ni'lang road, I found Pare, 

 the old jemadar, himself. He also was going up with his 

 rice and sheep to trade at Ziirang and other villages. He 

 said he had shot a barhal across the stream from his camp 

 on this bank: four came down to drink. He had a very 

 nice single '500 Express, by J. Osborne, London — a present, 

 he said, from his old master. I am afraid a goodly number 

 of wild sheep have fallen to it since its crack was first 

 heard in these wilds. I bought rice and other supplies 

 from Pare. He gave me a man to show the ground, and 

 said that the left side of the valley was the best for game. 

 Pare gave me an awful account of a certain sahib who had 

 deliberately shot with his rifle a number of men and a 

 score of sheep ! The men were innocent pilgrims on their 

 way to Gangotri. He was secured after committing 

 this crime, and was now in chains in Tiri. Pare also 

 told me that a wild yak was found dead in the snow in 

 Gandokh four years ago, and that he bought the head for 

 ten rupees ; it was the only one he had ever seen or heard 

 of in these parts. If the reputation of the Baspa valley 

 had not led me astray, I could have made a good thing of 

 my three months' leave in this direction. 



Next morning, soon after I started, I met two individuals 

 whose swagger struck me at sight. They were both 



