CHAPTER XII 



PLAINS OF GYANIMA : HOME OF THE ' OVIS AMMON ' 



The month of August was now commencing, when the 

 rains in India are still on with all their force. The mon- 

 soon or south-west winds blow up from the Indian Ocean, 

 charged with steamy hot vapour, which is deposited as 

 it cools on the southern slopes of the great Himalayan 

 range in the form of a continued downpour. In some 

 portions of the hills a rainfall of 400 inches is recorded in 

 the six months' monsoon, a depth of 25 feet of water over 

 the whole surface of the country. It was not an agreeable 

 season for remaining in the Himalayan valleys, where 

 survey work was impossible. Colonel Smyth having in- 

 spected the Bhotia schools in Lower Bians valley, we 

 marched up the upper valley, following the Kali river, 

 with the intention of crossing by the Kuti Pass again into 

 Tibet. Messrs. Drummond and Hodgson returned south- 

 ward. The upper reaches of the Kali open out into a wide 

 and picturesque valley with grassy slopes, where the 

 Bhotias kept many tame yaks grazing. Smyth purchased 

 eight cows, and we hired nine others to carry our loads. 

 These eight were subsequently sent to England to the 

 Zoological Society in London to be acclimatized. They 

 die in India from the heat, but would do well in Scotland 

 or the Swiss Alps. We camped at the highest village of 

 Kuti, and prepared for the morrow's ascent. These higher 



