A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



water before being unloaded. Nice yak ! Of 

 course he was the one who was carrying the tent 

 and some spare clothes ! The following morning 

 our way still led to the northwards over the high 

 plateau separating us from the Polakonka Pass. 

 At first we went up a pretty valley with lots of 

 grass, where we came across a Chang- Pa encamp- 

 ment, and then climbed up to the high table-land. 

 A little adventure that befel me by the way was 

 that whilst trying to hold my pony, which was 

 bolting, the native-made bit broke, and in this 

 powerless condition I charged right into the middle 

 of the Tartar camp, much to the astonishment of 

 the inhabitants thereof ; our wild career being 

 eventually checked by a tent-rope, which brought 

 pony, rider, and tent down in a confused heap, none 

 of them, luckily, the worse for the adventure. 

 When we arrived on the plateau a wonderful view 

 lay before us. To the east, and far below us, was the 

 small bright blue lake, Tso-Kiagr, and the road by 

 Nakpagoding to Puga, while to the west was a 

 range of hills that look made for napoo and nyan. 



That evening we camped on the high ground at 

 18,000 feet, or more (probably more), our highest 

 camp, and when morning broke we found the whole 

 country covered with hard-frozen snow. That 

 morning we climbed down hill for some distance, 

 and eventually reached the summit of the Pola- 

 konka Pass above Puga. As this spot is about 

 16,300 feet high, and we had been descending 



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