260 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



middle age, where he emerges from the Himalayas, 

 having triumphantly burst through these stupen- 

 dous barriers, a broad and deep but silently rolling 

 flood ? Still more unlike his trans - Himalayan 

 childhood is the old age of this mighty river, 

 for this is passed among the deserts of Sind, 

 where, bearer of ships and commerce, he blesses 

 his banks with fields of verdure, and turns a 

 wilderness into a garden ; till, gliding peacefully 

 onward, the end of his long journey is attained 

 the ocean and Nirvana. 



A week's marching along the banks of the river, 

 after leaving the Ladak frontier, will bring our 

 caravan to Gar Gunsa, or Gartok, the summer 

 headquarters of the Garpons, a town composed, 

 with the exception of the Garpons' residences, 

 entirely of tents. The yaks will here be dis- 

 missed, and their loads will henceforth be carried 

 by Tibetan-owned animals. The mules, however, 

 which are the traders 7 own property, and carry 

 the more precious loads of coral, saffron, &c., will 

 go the whole way to Lhassa. 



At every place of importance on the route the 

 Lapchak will be received with almost royal 

 honours, their approach being heralded by the 

 hoarse boom of great trumpets from the monas- 

 teries perched up on high places. At Gartok the 

 mission will find the annual fair in progress, and 



