INTENSE COLD. 277 



Unpropitious as matters looked, I was nevertheless deter- 

 mined to give the ground a trial ; but after several days of 

 severe work, during wliich I must have sometimes been con- 

 siderably over 19,000 feet, I saw nothing but a flock of 

 napoo, a few Oves Ammon ewes with lambs, and one or two 

 young males, at which latter I did not attempt to shoot 

 lest I should disturb better ones. Kiangs were numerous 

 as usual, but of course were never molested. The Tartars, 



I however, being hippophagous, did not seem at all to appre- 

 ciate my thus abstaining from horse-butchery. One evening 

 I came suddenly on a brood of snow-pheasants, large game- 

 looking birds of a general light-grey colour, with a whitish 

 head and breast.^ They were at first unwilling to rise, but 

 made such good use of their legs that I had to put my best 

 foot foremost for some distance to overtake them before I 

 could get a shot. At such a height this exertion, slight as 

 it was, so completely pumped the breath out of me that I 

 was only just able to loose off both barrels into the "brown" 

 of the covey as it rose. I had not another yard left in me 

 to secure the runners ; but my Tartar attendants, who had 

 wisely followed more leisurely, gathered the old hen and 

 three well-grown chicks. The old one proved rather dry 

 and tough, even after many days' keeping; but the chicks 

 were as tender and well-flavoured birds as I ever tasted. 



It was now time to return to Karzok, as I had promised 



to meet the Major there on a certain date. The cold, too, 



at the great heights I had camped during the last few days, 



j had become unpleasantly intense, owing to frequent snow- 



! storms and to the sun having been obscured by clouds. 



There was, however, no lack of sunshine on the day I 



' started for Karzok by a short cut across the mountains, 



^ This bird, although generally termed a pheasant, is really a partridge, 



sometimes called the "gigantic chuckor." There are two kinds, that found 



. on the southern slopes of the Himalayas being a good deal smaller than the 



Tibetan variety. They are found only at very high elevations, far above the 



limit of forest. 



