26 PERSONAL NABBATIFB. 



ground squirrel {Xerus rutilus, Klipp.), of -whicli we 

 saw several together running over the rocks. It has 

 rather long, coarse, harsh, almost bristly hair, and a fine 

 bushy tail. 



About six or seven miles from Komayli we met a 

 native of India with a camel and a mule, who com- 

 plained of having been robbed by two Shohos. The 

 thieves had run into a small ravine close by, and we 

 immediately afterwards saw them climbing up the rocks. 

 I slipped a couple of buUet-cartridges into my breech- 

 loader, but my companions begged me not to shoot the 

 thieves, and I felt no particular inclination to draw the 

 first blood in the campaign, so I contented myself with 

 frightening the Shohos by sending five or six bullets as 

 near to their heads as I could without risk of hitting 

 them. I was rather glad I had let them off when 

 I found that the whole plunder consisted of a small 

 bag of rice, which, of course, they had to abandon in 

 their flight. 



About ten miles from Komayli the ravine suddenly 

 contracted, owing to the greater hardness of the rocks, 

 and we entered the magnificent gorge known as the Suru 

 pass. Here the formation consists of a very hard, 

 massive rock, chiefly composed of felspar and quartz ; 

 almost all trace of foliation is lost in general, but where 

 it can be made out, it is generally nearly vertical. The 

 water, which in other parts of the ravine runs beneath 

 the gravel, is brought to the surface, and forms a little 

 stream containing small fish. The bed of the torrent 

 consists of immense blocks of rock, some of which were 



