NATUEALIST IN INDIA. 267 



noon, escorted by our jolly-nosed friend. After passing 

 through several dark galleries and apartments, containing 

 divers deities, figures on the walls, inscriptions, and so forth, 

 we were ushered into a long low-roofed room, surrounded by 

 piles of records, and many most uncouth images. On each 

 side of a long table were seated eight old men, who, imme- 

 diately on our appearance, commenced a most diabolical 

 uproar — shouting and beating drums, and blowing blasts on 

 huge brass trumpets. More and more uproarious they be- 

 came ; in fact — 



" They screwed their pipes, and gar'd them skirl, 

 Till roof and rafters a' did dirL" 



The first notice of the shapoo, or wild sheep of Ladakh I 

 can discover is in Moorcroft's Travels, where he mentions see- 

 ing one killed near Lameru. We had not time to procure 

 specimens, but on a subsequent occasion I was enabled to 

 examine several entire skius and heads which had been pro- 

 cured in the surrounding moimtains. These I compared with 

 the houriar (Ovis vigne'i) in my own collection, from the salt 

 range of the Pimjaub, the details of which will be found else- 

 where,* and also in my paper in the Proceedings of the Zoolo- 

 gical Society of Londork for 1858. The shapoo is said to be 

 common on the Ladakh mountains, and extends northwards 

 to Dardu on the Indus, and the countries to the west and 

 south. 



The road, after leaving Lameru, passes through a wild- 

 looking gorge by the side of a mountain-torrent called Winlin, 

 which, after a short course through the range, empties itself 

 into the western branch of the Indus, or Sinh-kha-bab, at 

 which poiut the road turns up the left bank to a log-bridge 

 and custom-house, where, crossing to the opposite side, we 

 * See pages 138, 143, 144. 



