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CHAPTER XIII. 



THE YAK. 



27th AUGUST. Under the guidance of the old Yar- 

 kandi's servant who bore the long rifle, with only my 

 bedding and three days' provision, we started on our 

 hunting excursion up the valley. We had but about 

 five miles to go, then bivouacked amid the brushwood 

 opposite a deep gorge running far back into the moun- 

 tains, where we were to try our luck after the yak. I 

 had expected to commence operations this afternoon, but 

 the Yarkand hunter objected, on the just ground of the 

 wind blowing up the ravines in the day time, and down 

 them early in the morning, therefore advising a very 

 early start. I dined at five, and at sunset went to the 

 fire, where, summoning the Yarkandi and Moosa to 

 interpret, we questioned him as to the nature of the 

 ground we were to go over to-morrow, the habits of the 

 kutass, as he calls the yak, and the prospects of sport. 

 He said, the place was not far, and the yak plentiful, and 

 that we were sure of finding them, as he had never yet 

 failed to do in this spot ; he had been hunting here some 



