196 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



all contributed clothes, knicknacks, and sundry- 

 articles that we could spare, as a present to the 

 chief, and put him in such a good humour 

 that he volunteered to accompany us to a range 

 of mountains to the eastward of the Pang-kung 

 lake (which I beHeved to be part of the Kailas 

 Range), where We should find bunchowr or wild 

 yaks. We closed at once with the desirable offer, 

 and started off to the eastward early the next 

 morning. 



After seven days' continuous marching through 

 a most desolate-looking country, where the only 

 human beings met with were a few wandering 

 Hunnias, we passed round the north end of the 

 lake, and struck a range of lofty mountains, which 

 our Tartar guide informed us was the haunt of the 

 bunchowr. Burrul and ovis ammon were frequently 

 seen en route; but we only killed sufficient game 

 to maintain ourselves and our people in food ; and 

 now that there was a prospect of nobler game, we 

 did not dare to fire a shot, lest the report of our 

 rifles might scare it away. For the first two 

 days we explored these mountains without sue- 



