A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



handy for the good spirits to throw when attacked 

 by the demons who would some day come down 

 this ravine. I should like to be there to see the 

 battle when it comes off! Still following the 

 course of the Indus we reached a grassy flat below 

 the Gonpa, or Monastery, of Spitak, and here 

 we left the valley and turned northwards along 

 a straight road crossing an extensive, stony plain, 

 at the head of which we could see the trees and 

 buildings of our destination Leh. Though appa- 

 rently so close, yet it is in reality some five miles 

 away, and I was not sorry when I found myself 

 at last riding under the archway into the main 

 bazaar of the capital of Ladakh. 



MANI STONE. 



110 



