YAK SHOOTING IN THIBET, 141 
van for my pony, mounted, and galloped for all I was worthin pursuit. The 
gallop, however, very soon developed into a walk, as at 17,000 feet a pony 
can only gallop about 200 yards, owing to the difficulty of breathing. After 
going about 3 miles over a fearful country I got within about 150 yards of 
him and then our respective positions in the matter of hunter and hunted 
were unexpectedly reversed, for my friend, wheeling round suddenly 
came charging straight for me like an avalanche, I gave him the contents 
of both barrels in the head, but might just as well have flung sand 
at him for all the effect ithad. The hollow nosed bullet merely broke up on 
his skull, and it was only after a most exciting five minutes of dodging like 
a Toreador in a Spanish bull-fight that I got a chance of putting an express 
bullet into his heart, which finished him off, He proved to be a fine beast of 
183 hands, with ahorn measurement of 29inches, The excitement and exercise 
brought «n an appalling headache, and I was right glad to get into camp, 
having failed in a stalk on the way owing to a shift of wind. The last I had 
seen of Gerry was following up his Yak, which he had wounded badly with 
his first shot. Iwas surprised at not finding him in camp, and when it came 
to 11 p.m. and there was no sign of him I became really anxious ;- more par- 
ticularly as it was now blowing a regular blizzard with hail and snow, I 
spent an hour firing shots, and sent men out in every direction to fire shots 
and blow bugles, but with no result; so I turned in, feeling practically 
certain that I should not see him alive again, Harly in the morning we 
were all delighted to see Gerry making for the camp. The poor chap had 
had a terrible time of it. He had followed up and got his Yak, and then 
made for where he thought the camp should be. He lost his bearings, and 
spent the whole night wandering about in that awful blizzard, How 
he stood it I don’t know, but as we had got him back, half frozen and 
famished with hunger, we stowed him away in bed and kept him there all 
day. 
The next morning broke fine, and right glad it made us, as it is bad 
enough to be living at an altitude where it takes one’s breath away to talk or 
even eat without having perpetual rain and hail to face outside the tent, 
Soon after daybreak Rassool saw a Yak about two miles from camp. I got to 
within 300 yards and put two ‘303 bullets into him ; but even then he carried 
on for quite 200 yards before he dropped dead. In the evening we rode on 
over a pass of 18,600 feet very nearly as far as Charal Cho, or rotten-water 
lake. Isaw nothing but Antelope, one of which I got with a 24-inch horn, 
Gerry saw seven Yak, but failed in hisstalk, and we turned in with great 
expectations for tue morrow, We moved the camp about five miles up a side 
nullah,and riding a long way up the main valley we saw a crowd of Yak, with 
one very fine bullamong them, We waited allday for them to shift into some 
place where we could stalk them, but without success, so we determined to 
have it out with them in the morning. In this we were again disappointed, as 
