XIII LOS 209 



two bullet holes, where, owing perhaps to the blood, it 

 had been rubbed a bit by the roll down the hill. The 

 skin was then removed and pegged out, rubbed with 

 alum, and a lui stretched over a tree above it to keep off 

 the sun. Mahamdu was put in charge, with orders not 

 to take out the pegs till evening, when the skin should 

 be dry, and then to follow us to Los, where we proposed 

 to halt. After this we started down the glen, and 

 marched in the direction of Astor. 



It was down-hill the whole way to Los, where we 

 stopped for the night, but the sun was on us all the time, 

 and it was a particularly hot and dusty march. The 

 village is a large one, prettily situated on a piece of level 

 ground overhanging the right bank of the Astor river. 

 My tent was pitched on a bit of pasture land under a 

 shady walnut, and fine trees of the same species were 

 dotted about. Astor was visible about a mile higher 

 up the river on the opposite bank. 



That evening a curious thing happened. The fields 

 are all irrigated, as is customary amongst these hills, from 

 a mountain stream, and the water can be turned off or on 

 at most points at will. In Los the pastures are exten- 

 sive, as the people do a flourishing trade in baggage 

 ponies used on the Gilgit road, and it is usual to do the 

 watering of the grass lands at night. When I selected 

 the ground for my tent, I had noticed that one of the 

 small irrigation channels ran across a corner of the patch 

 I chose, but I had not thought any more about it, and 

 when my brown waterproof sheet was stretched out on 

 the floor no sign of the hollow of course appeared. I 

 was sitting writing after dinner, leaning up against the 



p 



