KASHMIR VALLEYS 85 



Besides Baltis and Ladakhis various other of the 

 rough, wandering tribes of Central Asia were to be met 

 on the road to the Zogi La, many distinctly of Chinese 

 cast of countenance, others showing more of the 

 Turkoman. So long as the pass is open, scarce an hour 

 passes without meeting some party who have made 

 their way across, and as each little caravan went by, it 

 was amusing to speculate from dress and language what 

 distant country they hailed from. Many encampments 

 of merchants I passed. They had taken advantage of 

 the first open weather to move on from the direction of 

 Leh, where they had wintered after leaving Yarkand, 

 Kashgar, and various other Central Asian markets, and 

 carried with them a curious assortment of salt brick, 

 tea, silver goods, exquisite silks and embroideries of 

 great beauty of colour and design, printed Russian 

 cottons, curious barbaric jewellery and polished pebble 

 work from Turkestan and Ladakh. A sporting Sahib 

 also passed after six months spent in the highlands of 

 Astor, Chilas, and Baltistan. He looked almost as rough 

 and unkempt as his own wild porters, who were bringing 

 down a noble collection of trophies ibex, markhor, 

 thar, and several other varieties of the wild sheep and 

 goat, besides some handsome bear skins. Sportsmen, 

 if they wish to obtain any real success, have to push 

 very much further afield than was the case a few years 

 ago, when it sufficed to go into the hills a few miles 

 from the Jhelum to secure good shooting and collect 

 fine specimens. To prevent the absolute extermination 

 of big game, the Maharajah has introduced a system of 

 licences which works admirably, for while the scale is not 

 at all prohibitive to one who comes up on six months' 

 leave or for a longer period, it stops an indiscriminate 

 slaughter of animals by those who, running up for a few 



