A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



were pale with terror, and I thought that it was a 

 little dangerous, as perhaps it was, as we were 

 afterwards told that " zaks " had never crossed here 

 before ; but that the Rajah had said that the 

 boatmen were to go where I wanted, and that I 

 had said that I wanted to cross the stream ! so 

 Oriental ! Soon after our arrival at a fertile village 

 where we encamped, one of the whirlwinds that so 

 often come on in the Shyok Valley in the evening 

 burst upon us, and it required a man clinging on to 

 both poles of my tent to keep it up ; those of the 

 servants and shikaris were laid low. The main 

 road to the Chorbat Pass and Ladakh follows the 

 left bank of the river, but I thought that I should 

 like to try a new way, and accordingly marched on 

 the following day to a village called "Abadon," 

 situated under a lofty cliff, the inhabitants of which 

 were much surprised to see a white man. How- 

 ever, I might have saved myself the trouble of 

 coming here, as there was no practicable road up 

 this bank any farther, and I had to retrace my steps 

 for some distance and cross the Shyok, here quite 

 a calm stream, on " zaks," joining the main road 

 just above Kapalu. 



