Across the Roof of llic World. 



away the wapiti from the neighbourhood, but Numgoon said it 

 had probably been here some months, so that the stags had 

 doubtless become used to it, with which assurances I rested 

 content. 



I saw one or two ilhk, but being bent on mightier game left them 

 severely alone. We came into camp towards noon, as there was 

 nothing to indicate the presence of wapiti, and it is useless trying 

 to track them during the day, the only favourable times being 

 morning and evening. 



I started again at 5 o'clock on the morning of the 22nd and 

 went a long way down, but did not hear or see anything, nor did 

 we come across any tracks. Three miles further on we crossed 

 to the right bank of the stream, and went through the dense 

 forest looking for the tracks of stag, but there was nothing to 

 show they had been in the neighbourhood. Both sides of the 

 ravine were thickly timbered, whilst higher up along the ridges 

 marking the dividing line between parallel valleys the ground 

 was more open. This is generally the best line to follow, since 

 one gets a commanding view of the country beneath, and the 

 stags when calling are more easily heard than down in the 

 valley, where the noise of running water militates against any 

 chance of locating them. 



As the ground here did not seem to be promising I decided 

 to move into the next valley to the westward, as time was passing 

 and the calling season now well advanced. Giyani and the 

 Kazak had gone off the day before to the junction of the Kok 

 Terek with the Tekkes River, where supplies of sheep and flour 

 could be obtained, of which articles we stood in sore need, every- 

 thing having nearly run out, owing to the voracious appetites 

 displayed by the hungry expedition. We had turned the 

 baggage ponies out to graze the previous night, and as only 

 myself and Numgoon remained in camp it took four or five hours 

 to round the brutes up, the consequence being we did not get 

 started till past mid-day. We crossed the intervening range 

 and over another on the far side, thence down into the valley, 



250 



