144 TRIP TO CHET-TU 
as the male, but sly and treacherous. These dogs are 
used by all the caravan drivers to protect their 
merchandise at night. When they arrive at a camping- 
place the beasts of burden have their loads removed and 
stacked together. They are then covered with a tent of 
some sort, and the dogs are secured to stakes all round. 
If they caught a thief they would pull him down in a 
moment, and probably kill him. 
On July 25 I left Ta-tsien-Iu for a few days, travelling 
to Chet-tu, a Tibetan village about ten miles to the 
westward. The mountains here rise to an elevation of 
15,000 feet, and I found lodging in a stone-built hut in 
the valley beneath. There were two rooms in the hut, 
one being inhabited by the owners, the other by the 
cows, pigs, cats, dogs, and fowls belonging to them— 
and ourselves. It was not possible to get much rest, 
and the place was very dirty. The roof let the rain in, 
and the wind whistled through crevices in the walls. 
Everything, however, was not bad, for I found I could 
get excellent milk. In the morning I ascended the 
mountain to see if I could find any Crossoptilon Tibet- 
anum. After a hard walk I saw a fine cock within ten 
yards, and my cartridge missed fire. This was the first 
one I had ever seen wild, and the only one I saw during 
the day. It was a most annoying thing. I was not far 
now from the snow, and I found many flowers growing, 
