A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



afterwards the snow began to disclose patches of 

 rock and earth as we descended towards the next 

 stage, Mataiyan. The descent on the Baltistan 

 side is so gradual, that were it not for the fact that 

 the stream flows to the E. instead of the W., you 

 would scarcely observe for some distance that you 

 were going downhill. Soon after this I parted from 

 B., he following the main path down the right 

 bank of the stream that eventually becomes the 

 Dras River, whilst I went down the left bank on 

 the chance of seeing a red bear, which Salia said 

 were sometimes to be found on the slopes opposite 

 Mataiyan. At Mitsahoi I found a sturdy little 

 Yarkandi pony waiting for me, and was not sorry 

 to mount him after our walk over the snow, which 

 towards the end had become somewhat toilsome 

 owing to the sun having made it soft. Soon after- 

 wards I made my first acquaintance with the 

 Kashmiri marmots (Arctomys Caudatus\ which are 

 much larger than their Alpine congeners and are of 

 a reddish-brown colour. On seeing us approach 

 they sat up, generally on a stone, whistling shrilly, 

 and soon dived into their burrows. I found out 

 subsequently that though one can get easily to 

 within even gun-shot of them, unless they are 

 dropped dead on the spot, they almost invariably 

 get away into their earths, and that to bag them 

 the most effectual weapon is a rook-rifle. After 

 following the stream for some distance, we came to 

 some very steep " couloirs " filled with snow, which 



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