400 SPORT IN THE HIGHLANDS OF KASHMIR chai-. xxii 



of another pair of uryal horns. But as the season was 

 getting late, and there was danger of snow on the Zogi 

 La, I was anxious to be off as soon as possible. 



On the 30th accordingly I sent the camp, under 

 Rupsang's advice, to Farka, a small village just opposite 

 Pitak, while we ourselves left the Rumbok nala, and 

 went round the foot of the slate hills that bound the 

 Indus valley in that neighbourhood. Going up a nala 

 between two of these hills, we saw three uryal rams, 

 but as it was late when we saw them, and they were 

 some distance up the hill, we determined to defer stalk- 

 ing till the following day. 



For some unknown reason, wounds, I found, could 

 not easily be cured in the air of Ladak. Generally my 

 experience is that a cut closes at once, and heals com- 

 pletely in a very short time, but in Ladak cuts and 

 scratches kept opeii for weeks. To give an instance, I 

 may mention that I cut my thumb accidentally on the 

 25th of July, and happening to touch the place when 

 unpacking at Farka the evening we got there, the 

 wound began to bleed afresh. It did not finally heal 

 up till we reached Srinagar. 



The first of October involved some of the hardest 

 work I have ever gone through after game. The 

 morning was cloudy, and a strong cold wind was blow- 

 ing up the valley, as we crossed the stony plain that 

 separates Farka from the ridges we were going to search 

 for uryal. When we began ascending the hill on which 

 the three rams had been seen the day before, we got into 

 a cloud, and fine snow came on, driven against us by the 

 bitter wind. The hill consisted of slate as usual, most 



