430 HOONYAS AND THEIR FLOCKS. 



of sport there as a more active and forcible one. I therefore 

 determined to make the best use of the time allowed. 



Next morning the cattle were packed and sent off to a spot 

 where there was feeding for them a few miles from here, in 

 the direction of the Sutlej, whilst Puddoo and I made a cir- 

 cuit over the table-land and through the ravines more east- 

 ward. We made out a flock of Ovcs miles away, up towards 

 the Himalayan slopes ; but as, even with the aid of the spy- 

 glass, we were doubtful whether they were ewes or young 

 males with small horns, and they were also in a direction 

 opposite to the one we wished to take, we paid them no fur- 

 ther attention. Towards the afternoon we found two burrell 

 rams, which we stalked without much difficulty, and one 

 of them was killed. I noticed on this occasion, and many 

 others, on these high undulating uplands, that a shot had a 

 peculiarly dull and flat sound, which was probably due to 

 atmospheric influence. There was none of the usual ring or 

 reverberation in the thin air of this high region. Nor was 

 there an echo Jto the report of a gun even under conditions of 

 ground where it might ordinarily have been expected. Had 

 it not been for the usual recoil, I might have supposed that 

 the rifle was loaded with an insufficient charge of powder. 

 On our way back we came across a Hoonya encampment, the 

 occupants of which were busily engaged sheep -shearing. 

 They were using a knife in place of shears for removing the 

 fleeces, which I noticed were very fine and long. 



Herds, consisting sometimes of thousands of sheep, goats, 

 and yaks, may be seen about a Hoonya camp, all of them as 

 wild as deer, and it is interesting to observe the way in which 

 they are tended. The sheep and goats are picketed at night 

 in troops, exactly like the horses of a cavalry regiment. Two 

 long ropes are stretched along the ground and made fast 

 about a yard apart, with nooses on each rope about two feet 

 apart. In the evening the sheep and goats are collected, and 

 surrounded by the men, women, and children in a circle, who 



