ciiAF. XXI WOLVES ON THE KUNDA LA 385 



next morning to see if the kites would act as guides to 

 the animal's body. 



The thermometer was at 28° when I got up on the 

 24th, The day was a blank, spent entirely in search- 

 ing for burhel and uryal over the terrible ground I 

 have attempted to describe. We saw only a few female 

 burhel, though we went up the Kunda La, and swung 

 round then to the north along the crests of the hills. 

 We saw three tawny wolves, and I fired at one, but missed. 

 The villagers told me that these beasts had been very 

 numerous lately, and had done a lot of damage amongst 

 their flocks, as well as in driving away game. The cold 

 that day was considerable. I was nearly frozen trying 

 to have breakfast on a high ridge, even though I chose 

 a spot sheltered from the wind and got some sun. 

 There was not much wind luckily, but what there was, 

 was bitingly cold. 



The 25th was equally blank. We went south-east 

 over the hills, having left directions with the pony-men 

 to move the camp to the village of Rumbok, which was 

 situated in a side nala a few miles lower down than 

 Urucha, 



We worked round a number of small ravines, which 

 open fan-shaped into the main nala, and were conse- 

 quently going up and down the whole time over the 

 usual slate ddbris. On the mountain-tops the wind was 

 very cold, though luckily not strong. Whenever I took 

 my hands out of my fur gloves — as, for instance, when 

 taking a photograph — they quickly became almost useless 

 from cold. At one point we looked down into the Stok 



nala, and saw Leh plainly a dozen miles away. After 



2 c 



