126 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



up what seemed to be an impossible slope, with a snow 

 cornice at the top overhanging and curling over, which 

 looked like an absolute stopper to man or beast. Not so, 

 however, to the yaks ; for they made a hole in the snow, 

 and we had the mortification of seeing the whole herd 

 disappear through it against the sky-line. We fired a 

 few rifle bullets after them out of sheer desperation, but 

 the distance was too great for any result ; in fact, our 

 sporting rifles were not built for long range purposes. 



On one occasion we crossed another very lofty divide, 

 and found ourselves suddenly out on the northern slopes 

 of another watershed, none other than that of the mighty 

 Indus. Far beneath us, some miles away, lay the most 

 brilliantly beautiful blue sea, the celebrated Manasarowar 

 lake, as it proved, which we had promised not to approach. 

 The foreground was flat, rolling hills and ridges sloping 

 gradually towards the lake, all bare and tinted in most 

 crude colours — reds and pinks and orange — while hundreds 

 of miles to the north and west in the violet distance there 

 stretched range after range of low, jagged hills, all alike, 

 and succeeding one another in endless succession. Con- 

 spicuous, and towering above them all, was the snow- 

 capped summit of the sacred Kailas. We sat down for 

 awhile, and munched our biscuits and enjoyed the wonder- 

 ful and extensive panorama, and sketched it in water 

 colours as a record of our tramp. We could see the flocks 

 and black tents of shepherds scattered over the plains 

 towards the lake, and the air was so clear and rare that 

 objects seemed much nearer than they were. The sun 

 shone bright, and silence reigned over the vast prospect, 

 save for the familiar songs high up overhead of innumer- 

 able skylarks, reminding one of scenes far away. The 

 ground, indeed, seemed to be the breeding-place of all the 

 larks in India. Their nests were so numerous that one 



