CHAP, xxin THE TRAAL RESERVE 415 



tion. A few stags are annually shot in these Reserves 

 during the autumn by those specially permitted, but for 

 the rest of the year the animals are safe. 



I took with me only the light camp equipage I had 

 used when on the hills near Sarsal in Baltistan, and 

 when going to Hanle. That is, the two 30-lb. tents, 

 one yakdan, one stores box, a bundle of bedding, etc. 



1 also engaged another Kashmiri as cook, leaving 

 Ramzana with my wife. 



The day I left Srinagar I camped a couple of miles 

 beyond Aventipur, in the village of Giru. When 

 passing the Tehsil building at Aventipur, I learned that 

 the Tehsildar was the man who had so civilly got me 

 ponies at Skardo on the 8th of April. The Pundit him- 

 self came out when I arrived, and insisted on my going 

 into his house and having some tea, — Lhassa tea, strange 

 to say, which means tea carried all the way from China 

 across Tibet. It is difficult to understand how it can 

 possibly be profitable to bring this tea to the north-west 

 corner of India, yet the fact remains that caravan-carried 

 China tea can be bought in the markets of Kashmir, and is 

 very generally consumed in that country. At Giru we 

 were met by a local shikari, whom I engaged on Abdulla's 

 recommendation. His home was close to the Reserve, 

 and he was supposed to know the place well. 



The following morning we went on some 8 miles to 

 Kamla, and camped at the edge of the Reserve, which 

 gets its name from a large village called Traal some 



2 miles away. 



The protected area consists of two semicircular glens 

 facing north-west, and a ridge between, all three well 



