270 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



my breath came in gasps. It was evident that 

 going uphill the wounded beasts had the legs 

 of us. As I got to the bottom of the steep 

 ascent leading to the pass, one of the yak was 

 half-way up, some three or four hundred yards 

 away ; the other had separated and made for 

 going up a big mountain to the right, and was 

 now a long way off. I determined to try and 

 cripple the wounded beast still more before he 

 topped the pass, so took the *256 and lay down. 

 Two shots went low ; the third, as he stood for 

 a second at the top, seemed like a hit, for he 

 gave a whisk with his tail then he was gone. 



It was too late to go farther, so back to 

 where my wife had remained an excited spec- 

 tator, taking with me the dead yak's tail. The 

 others would have to be seen to to-morrow. A 

 hasty cup of tea and we started on the long 

 ride to camp, made longer because we had to 

 take a circuitous road by the plains instead of 

 the morning's route, which would have been 

 impossible in the dark. The sun sank, and we 

 were soon riding by starlight. There is some- 

 thing in the effect of a long ride by night which 

 is almost hypnotic. The eye, it may be, fixes 

 itself on a single star. Sometimes the body 

 sleeps while the mind is awake, sometimes the 

 other way. It seemed as if the dim figure of 



