14 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



it presents, the only drawback to the enjoyment of 

 which is the wet weather prevailing there. 



The scenery of Ladak on the road to Leh, con- 

 sisting of rugged, rocky mountains and deep gorges, 

 has a charm peculiarly its own, and the beauty of 

 the occasional villages, each on its patch of bright 

 green, is enhanced by the barrenness of their sur- 

 roundings. 



On the way up we had, of course, no adventures 

 worthy of note, but near Saspul I killed a snake, a 

 description of which may be of interest to natural- 

 ists. Personally I was not aware that any snakes 

 were to be found at such an elevation (over 10,000 ft.) 

 in the middle of the Himalayas. Apparently it is 

 not poisonous at least, I could find no fangs ; its 

 length 38 or 40 inches, dust-coloured, with diamond- 

 shaped grey motlings on the back ; underneath front 

 half silver and grey ; tail part a dull salmon colour. 

 It was a thin snake, with small, oval head and long, 

 tapering tail. 



Our head man (caravanbashi) had come down to 

 meet us in Srinagar, as we knew that there were 

 sure to be a lot of odds and ends wanted, which are 

 more easily got there than in Leh. He had been 

 with me on two previous journeys, and as we knew 

 him to be really trustworthy, we had told him to let 

 the people about Leh know that we were coming, 

 and wanted to buy ponies. So when we arrived 

 there there were lots all ready for us to see. 



