A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



waves and makes them look of the colour of a 

 sapphire. The sandy shores are in places covered 

 with a coarse, thin-growing grass of a vivid green, 

 and are surrounded with richly-coloured sandstone 

 hills, while on the western side magnificent crags 

 rise up to the higher snows. Beneath these crags 

 is perched the little village of Karzok, said to be 

 the highest in the world, at an altitude of 

 14,960 feet above the sea-level. It consists of 

 a gonpa or monastery, standing on a hillock, with 

 a few huts clustered round the foot. Though 

 called a salt lake, the water has only a slightly 

 brackish taste, but the natives, and even the yaks, 

 refuse to drink it. As we had foolishly brought no 

 fresh water with us, we had a long, hot, and thirsty 

 double march along the eastern shore, passing the 

 famous Nyan Nalahs, Shapgo and Luglang, in the 

 dry watercourses of which I saw some good horns, 

 and were not sorry to arrive at our camping-ground, 

 Peldo Le, at the head of the lake, late in the 

 evening. I had been about ten hours in the saddle, 

 and the men on foot must have had about enough 

 of it. On this day Baboo Lai and Sekour Khan 

 had walked, as I had been obliged to give their 

 pony to Ramzahn, who started early and went 

 round to Karzok to get flour for the camp, as we 

 had run out of this commodity. 



Whilst we were pitching camp I saw some bar- 

 headed geese stalked, and shot one. Here one of 



the yaks, being rather hot and tired, rolled in the 



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