A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



one of them, as he dropped in his tracks, shot 

 through the heart. I am afraid that I fired more 

 than one shot at the others as they bolted, but 

 without success ; however, the spell was at last 

 broken, and there lay the goa with a nice head of 

 about twelve inches. I really think that, as I con- 

 templated him, I felt almost more satisfaction than I 

 had done after any of the previous shots that I had 

 made. When his head had been despatched to 

 camp we followed the remaining four bucks, as these 

 animals do not, as a rule, go far before stopping 

 again ; but though we saw them soon afterwards 

 about a mile away, and stalked up to within fifty 

 yards of them, they heard us approaching, and 

 bolted before I could get a shot, owing to a hillock 

 that was between me and them. From the spot 

 where we now were the view was one of the wildest 

 that I had seen even in this wild country. To the 

 south the high mountains towards Chumurti and the 

 frontier of Chinese Thibet are less than a day's 

 march distant, and seem to be of a more rugged 

 and snowy character than any that I had lately 

 seen. To the east runs the steep ridge that 

 separates the Hanle Valley from that of Koyul, 

 while to the north the Lanak range and the road to 

 the Tso-Moriri close the view. 



Far below us was the green patch that repre- 

 sented the Hanle plain, with the monastery looking 

 like a white speck, the latter being the only sign of 

 the existence of human beings in this wilderness of 



