214 



TO THE KARAKORUM. 



this exciting object, and a glass of sherry, I turned in 

 quite jolly. 



When the two animals were brought in, the coolies 

 petitioned for a halt to mend their shoes, and Tar-gness, 

 who had been out on the other side after shikar, coming 

 back with the news that he had seen some fine large- 

 horned napu, I consented to a day's halt, and ordered an 

 early start to hunt. 



14th August. A bitter cold morning : and there was 

 a stream to cross, the stones of which were coated with 

 ice, so that Subhan, the plucky Subhan, who volunteered 

 to carry me across, fell just on reaching the other side. 

 We had most difficult climbing up stony steeps : found a 

 herd of napu, male and female, but tried in vain to ap- 

 proach them, as they first got our wind, and then sighted 

 us ; so we descended again to breakfast near a rivulet. 

 From this spot we descried the herd crossing a ridge on 

 the mountain, and the males, some ten, remained behind 

 and lay down. I gazed at them through the glass, and 

 admired their massive horns. After a time we deter- 

 mined to try and circumvent them, and pursued our way 

 along the stony slope of the mountain, low down. But 

 these 'cute creatures spied us, and, I believe, detected our 

 plot, which was to station ourselves in a ravine crossing 

 their probable line of retreat, when roused by Tar-gness 

 who was to approach them by a long detour down wind. 

 I noticed that the suspicious animals had already faced 

 about in the direction of the new danger. I had hardly 

 any hopes of success, and told Subhan that I feared Tar- 

 gness would never go back far enough to drive them in 

 our direction : but the attempt must be made, and a ter- 

 rible struggle we had up a ravine, the surface of which 

 was one mass of loose sharp stones, causing one to slip 

 back every step. After many a pause to take breath we 



