YAK SHOOTING IN THIBET. 135 
On the present occasion I had not much difficulty in this, for having had so 
many in my previous caravans in Central Asia, I easily picked some of them 
up again, and was most fortunate in getting an Argoon, Bussool Gullwan 
who was with me twice before, to again come as headman. His accomplish- 
ments, over and above the general superintendence of the outfit, included 
rifle cleaning, skinning, and waiting at table, 
One word as to our battery. Gerry shot throughout with a Mannlicher, and 
found it most satisfactory in every way. My battery consisted of a double- 
' barrelled 12-bore paradox,a double-barrelled °450 express, anda double- 
barrelled ‘303 rifle, all built by Holland and Holland, I practically 
did all my shooting with the -303, using a cartridge loaded with 37 grains of 
refleite powder, and a split bullet of 215 grains, The ‘303 has a great ad- 
vantage over the “450 express on account of its flat trajectory, an advantage 
which is greatly emphasised in a country like Thibet where, owing to the ex- 
treme clearness of the atmosphere, distances are very hard to judge accurate- 
ly. Ifound the cartridge I have described to be quite good enough for 
_ Yak, except upon one occasion, which I will mention later,and perhaps even 
‘then it was not altogether the fault ofthe cartridge. Thereis one other 
very necessary addendum to one’s battery, and that isa really good tele- 
‘scope. Itis extremely hard sometimes to distinguish a Cow from a Bull- 
Yak even at a comparatively short distance, and a good telescope will often 
“save one a long weary stalk ending in disappointment, 
Well, to begin with, we left Srinagar for Leh on the evening of June 27th. 
Of our journey to Leh I need say little, except that, owing to the unusually 
- swollen state of the rivers, we found several of the bridges carried away, and 
were therefore compelled to make long detours, which delayed us nearly 
four days. We had one nasty experience on July 6th at the Soroo river, 
which was crossed by a Jhula or rope bridge, made of twisted birch twigs, 
the larger bridge designed for pony traffic having been carried away by the 
recent floods. Three Baltis entirely against our wishes had joined our 
caravan in Srinagar, and when we reached the Jhula, which, owing to the 
flood, was in the middle nearly two feet under water, two of them got over 
safely with their loads, while the third funked it, One of his compatriots, a 
brother I believe, thereupon recrossed, and taking the load got half-way 
over on his return journey, when he was washed off his legs, and after 
hanging by his hands for a moment, disappeared into the raging torrent 
before we hada chance of helping him, All that his brother did was to 
‘loudly curse him for losing his load, Four or five days later the expedition, 
_ as far as I was concerned, very nearly came to anend. I had the bad luck 
to give my anklea severe sprain, and you can imagine my feelings and 
expressions when I at first imagined that it was a case of good-bye to Thibet, 
_ Gerry, however, started in massaging it, and so effective was his treatment 
' that it gave me litile or no pain after leaving Leh. 
