NATURALIST IN INDIA. 271 



passing tlirough a rich and cultivated district, studded here 

 and there with well-built yiUages^-a few of these, as usual, 

 occupied projecting cliffs on the ridges and off-shoots. In the 

 far distance the lofty peaks of the Kara Korum mountains 

 rose against the northern horizon. We noticed porphyritic 

 rocks near the village of Opshee, at which point the foot- 

 path leaves the Indus and turns to the right up a nan-ow 

 gorge and by the side of a mountain stream, on which the 

 common sandpiper, Asiatic and common water ousels, were 

 observed. The chestnut-beUied redstart was noticed for the 

 first time near Grhia ; it is easily distinguished from the 

 white-capped species by the broad white band across the 

 centre of the wing. The female and young have no white on 

 the forehead, and are less brilliant in colouring. The tame 

 yak now takes the place of its half-bred, called " zho." The 

 cold and climate of these upland regions do not seem to agree 

 with the latter. The yak is therefore the chief beast of 

 burden in Eupshoo, and furnishes the Tartars with nearly all 

 their wants. The wild animal does not come so far south, 

 but a few are met with during winter and early spring on the 

 Nobra ranges ; they migrate, however, to the loftier slopes of 

 the Kara Korum before the end of April The yak wanders 

 about singly or in small herds, preferring secluded valleys to 

 open hiUsides, passing the day among the snow, where, like 

 deer and bears, it may often be seen at mid-day stretched 

 out at full length asleep: Captain Peyton's collection con- 

 tained an entire skeleton and a few magnificent heads, pro- 

 cured by himself. The horn of the largest measured 2 

 feet 4^ inches round the curve, 1 foot in its greatest cir- 

 cumference, and between the tips 1 foot 8 inches. I learn, 

 however, that much larger measurements are recorded. The 

 prevailing colour of the wild yak is black, with a grayish 



