A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



piles, will in time be born again in the Buddhist 

 heaven. 



Amongst the burhel horns that I measured from 

 the pile at Upshi, were specimens of twenty-two 

 and twenty-five inches in length, the latter pair 

 having a girth of twelve inches. At the village of 

 Upshi the road from Leh to Simla turns off south- 

 wards, leaving the Indus Valley, and ascends 

 through the narrow ravine of Miru, till it comes 

 out on the tableland of Gya. It was in a nalah 

 that runs into the hills from that latter place, and 

 which is named after the village, that I had deter- 

 mined to commence my pursuit of Ovis Ammon 

 and. Burhel. Munshi Palgez had recommended 

 this valley to me, though he said that big Ammon 

 heads were here few and far between, and, as I 

 subsequently discovered, the ground had already 

 been shot by three "Sahibs" during the present 

 season ; however, it was on my way, and was a 

 good place from which to begin. The natives of 

 Upshi had warned me that the road was very bad, 

 having been swept away by the recent floods ; how- 

 ever, I found that the only real difficulty was to be 

 encountered at a place where a space of some 

 twenty yards of the pathway had disappeared, and 

 we were compelled to scramble along some rather 

 bad rocks above the stream. We now began the 

 ascent of the ravine, along the left bank of the 

 torrent, which is here shut in by precipices on 

 either hand. When I attempt to describe this 



121 



