THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 87 



a stranger, or because they regarded me as the cause 

 of all their woes ; hut certainly, as we went up that 

 terrible and apparently endless Ruhang Pass, with 

 one man pulling at the yak's nose-ring in front, and 

 another progging it behind with the iron shod of my 

 alpenstock, the Bos grunniens had an uncommonly 

 hard time of it, especially when he tried to stop ; he 

 did not keep grunting without good reason therefor ; 

 and I could not help thinking that my Poephagus 

 had been perfectly justified in his attempt to demolish 

 me before starting. 



If my reader wants to get an idea of the comfort of 

 riding upon a yak, let him fasten two Prussian spiked 

 helmets close together along the back of a great bull 

 and seat himself between them. That is the nearest 

 idea I can give of a yak's saddle, only it must be 

 understood that the helmets are connected on each 

 side by ribs of particularly hard wood. The sure- 

 footedness and the steady though slow ascent of these 

 animals up the most difficult passes are very remark- 

 able. They never rest upon a leg until they are sure 

 they have got a fair footing for it ; and, heavy as they 

 appear, they will carry burdens up places which even 

 the ponies and mules of the Alps would not attempt. 

 There is a certain sense of safety in being on the back 

 of a yak among these mountains, such as one has in 

 riding on an elephant in a tiger-hunt ; you feel that 

 nothing but a very large rock, or the fall of half a 

 mountain, or something of that kind, will make it 



