A Day after Bur he I 207 



The former reference was to the cutting, then 

 in progress, along the precipitous side of the 

 Talambuti gorge, by which the much - dreaded 

 ascent of the Karawal Dawan was avoided a 

 terrible stony hill this, the severity of which to 

 tired animals is testified to by the bleaching bones 

 with which the track is littered. Some work still 

 remained on the cutting, and the frequent boom 

 of blasting operations reached us where we sat. 

 As for the crossing of the Shyok, the traders 

 could scarcely have said more if they had just 

 completed a passage in the Lusitania, which 

 shows how entirely a matter of expectations is 

 gratitude. How the passengers of the famous 

 liner would grouse if they were landed some 

 hours late of the usual time ; and here these 

 poor devils were overwhelmed with joy at finding 

 themselves with bag and baggage safely across 

 the Shyok. 



I seem to have left our burhel. Let us return 

 to them. About three in the afternoon they 

 began to move slowly in our direction ; half an 

 hour later it seemed long odds that they would 

 walk straight up to me without giving me the 

 trouble of moving. But no reliance can be placed 

 on wild sheep, as had been impressed on me 

 only the week before. It was like this. I had 

 stalked a herd which, after giving me a climb 



