TIBETAN FOX. 243 



Towards the head of the glen there were marks of these 

 wild beeves that had been there some time before, but they 

 had evidently shifted their ground. Doe antelopes — or 

 what I supposed were does, for they all appeared hornless 

 — were pretty numerous ; but not a good buck did we see 

 until we reached the almost level snowless summit of a 

 very high pass — though it did not appear so from the 

 great height we were already at — which terminated the 

 glen. Here a fine fellow suddenly showed himself, and 

 ofifered such a tempting shot that I could not resist the 

 temptation to let drive at him, even at the risk of disturb- 

 ing any dong that might have been in the vicinity. Of 

 doing this there was, however, little fear, as the wind 

 sweeping over the pass was quite enough to prevent a shot 

 being heard at any distance. 



The buck moved on slowly a short way, and then lay 

 down. Giving him a wide berth for the present, with the 

 intention of looking him up on our way back, when we 

 should have a better chance of securing him, we went a 

 considerable distance down the other side of the range, to 

 a prominent spot which commanded an extensive view 

 of the savage mountainous wilderness beyond. Even 

 Changter, who had been exploring this wild country since 

 his youth, said he knew little about the remote region 

 across this pass. Every visible atom of ground which was 

 only here and there patched with snow was carefully 

 scrutinised through the spy-glass. Still there were no dong 

 to be seen — only a couple of wild horses quietly grazing on 

 an isolated green spot beside a little stream, more than a 

 mile off and far below us ; and a fine fox with a light 

 sandy-coloured coat and a white-tipped brush. He jumped 

 up quite close to us, and turning round within an easy 

 stone's - throw, stood gazing at us for some time as if with 

 much wonder at our presence in this high solitude. 



It was now late in the afternoon, and we were at least 

 eight miles from our camp, so we returned to try and pick 



