262 A TIBETAN MARMOT. 



dragged himself on his haunches for fully a quarter of a 

 mile down the other side of the hill before his strength 

 failed him, and on our approach raised himself on his fore- 

 legs and menaced us with his horns. Although he was a 

 full-grown ram, measuring about twelve hands, his horns 

 did not turn out to be so large as they had looked at a 

 distance. 



By the time we got back over the hill, the baggage-yaks 

 had arrived at the place where we had left the pony and 

 dogs below. As the country about looked promising, and 

 there was water at hand, I decided to camp here for a day 

 or two. Good as it seemed, and although we worked hard 

 over it, as well as a more distant beat, to reach which we 

 crossed a rocky ridge that must have been considerably 

 above 19,000 feet, our success was no better here tlian on 

 our last ground. We saw only four Oves, which the spy- 

 glass spared me the trouble of going after, by showing them 

 to be either ewes or very young males. How many a weary 

 and useless mile does a good telescope thus save ! We also 

 came across a black wolf, but he was too far out for a sliot, 

 and his long slinging trot soon took him out of sight. The 

 only thing I emptied my rifle at was a marmot, as it sat up 

 whistling away, near the mouth of its burrow, not far from 

 my tent. It was somewhat smaller than the Himalayan 

 variety, and of a uniform yellowish-grey colour, and appeared 

 to be identical with the Alpine marmot. The Tartars con- 

 sider marmots excellent eating, and probably they are so, 

 though I could never bring myself to try them. When we 

 happened to encamp near their burrows, of which there arc 

 generally a number together, like the prairie-dog " cities " 

 in America, our men would sometimes secure them by 

 smoking them out of their holes, and killing them witli 

 sticks and stones. To cook them they were first singed 

 bodily in the fire to remove the hair, and then cut up and 

 boiled, skin and all. 



The Major and I had arranged to meet at a j)lace called 



