A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



miles to Pandras, where there is a bridge, and then 

 return a like distance up the opposite side of the 

 stream to the camp. This was rather trying, as 

 we were not more than half a mile in a straight line 

 from the latter, and had already been going for 

 some twelve hours. But the greatest difficulty was 

 still to come. About a mile further on the ground 

 was cut away by a landslip, which fell almost perpen- 

 dicularly into the torrent below ; it was only about 

 100 yards across, and to go round and above it would 

 have entailed climbing some thousands of feet to 

 the top of the range, so we determined to cross the 

 face. To do this we had to cut steps and to rope 

 ourselves together with turbans, and I, for one, was 

 not sorry when we reached the opposite side in 

 safety ; the fact that the river was boiling along 

 some fifty feet below not adding to one's sensations 

 of pleasure. After this we went along some ground 

 at the foot of slopes which looked made for red 

 bear, but there were none to be seen, and we 

 eventually reached the bridge at Pandras, where we 

 were glad to find ponies (the recalcitrant Yarkandi 

 amongst them) awaiting us. We trotted gaily back 

 the other side of the river towards camp. After 

 going about a mile, Salia said, " Look ! " and on my 

 looking, there were three red bears calmly feeding 

 on the very slopes under which we had passed only 

 an hour before ! We arrived in camp about 8 P.M., 

 having had about fifteen hours' pretty hard work. 

 I found that an officer of the R.H.A. was also 



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