DEAD HORSE 191 



conspicuous object. Descending to the valley small 

 plateaux are constantly passed, covered with rich grass 

 in which many buttercups are seen. 



Having given the collectors what the}^ required, I 

 started southward again on May 25, and slept that 

 night at the dairy-farm I had before visited. I was 

 somewhat disconcerted at finding that a very dirty 

 lama was to share the only room with me, but there 

 ■was no choice. He was ver}- busy chanting prayers 

 (the only thing they ever do), and his accent seemed to 

 remind me of Italian. 



Leaving at daylight I had a stifi" walk to the top of 

 the pass, and just after j^assing the summit I came to a 

 horse, evidently just dead, lying on the j)ath with a 

 bridle on. I could never find out w^ho his owner had 

 been or how he came there, but I strongh^ suspect that 

 there had been foul play. I reached camp in the even- 

 ing, and during the night there was a heavy storm of 

 thunder and lightning accompanied by hail and snow. 



May 31 . — Snowing very fast, the ground covered and 

 the branches of the trees loaded with snow, looking much 

 more like midwinter than three weeks from midsummer. 



The first of June was a fine day, but the snow lay 

 thick on the ground and light fleecy clouds floated in 

 the air. I managed to ascend to about 15,000 feet, 

 and collected in the sheltered spots some beetles 



