236 TIBETAN ANTELOPES. 



leading to the desert plain of Lingzitang, averaging over 

 17,000 feet, across which vast elevated waste lies the route 

 to Yarkand. We had proceeded two or three miles when 

 Changter detected some moving objects on a gently sloping 

 plateau far away up the glen. The glass was soon brought 

 to bear on them, when they proved to be a herd of seven 

 antelopes, and two kiangs that were grazing near them. 

 After watching for some time, we were glad to see the horses 

 move off, leaving .us a better chance of a stalk at the ante- 

 lopes, amongst which I could discover several good bucks. 

 As there was little chance of their noticing us at so great 

 a distance, we moved cautiously on until we gained the 

 cover of a high sloping bank, rising beside the stream that 

 flowed down the glen. Here we left the pony, giving 

 instructions to the man in charge of him to have the 

 tents pitched, on their arrival, in a sheltered nook, whilst 

 Changter, Kurreem, and I went on to try and circumvent 

 the antelopes. 



We had proceeded some distance along the stony bed of 

 the stream, under cover of the steep sloping bank beside it, 

 when we were suddenly brought to a stand-still by seeing 

 a buck antelope moving in front of us down towards the 

 stream, and a second soon followed. They were still a 

 considerable way off, and, fortunately, did not detect us 

 before we had crouched as close as possible under cover 

 of the bank. Waiting until they were hidden behind some 

 rising ground, we again moved cautiously forward. At 

 length we reached the spot where they had disappeared, 

 but, to our dismay, they were nowhere visible beyond it. 

 Thinking they might have gone back again on to the higher 

 ground, we crept up the steep bank and peered over it, 

 when a single doe, that happened to be close by on the 

 plateau above, catching sight of us, went away at speed. 

 Still there was no sign of the bucks ; and as the wind, 

 which had hitherto favoured us, had now veered round, 

 we made sure that they too had got intelligence of us and 



