DEAD HORSE 191 
conspicuous object. Descending to the valley small 
plateaux are constantly passed, covered with rich grass 
in which many buttercups are seen. 
Having given the collectors what they required, I 
started southward again on May 25, and slept that 
night at the dairy-farm I had before visited. I was 
somewhat disconcerted at finding that a very dirty 
lama was to share the only room with me, but there 
was no choice. He was very busy chanting prayers 
(the only thing they ever do), and his accent seemed to 
remind me of Italian. 
Leaving at daylight I had a stiff walk to the top of 
the pass, and just after passing the summit I came to a 
horse, evidently just dead, lying on the path with a 
bridle on. JI could never find out who his owner had 
been or how he came there, but I strongly suspect that 
there had been foul play. I reached camp in the even- 
ing, and during the night there was a heavy storm of 
thunder and lightning accompanied by hail and snow. 
May 31.—Snowing very fast, the ground covered and 
the branches of the trees loaded with snow, looking much 
more like midwinter than three weeks from midsummer. 
The first of June was a fine day, but the snow lay 
thick on the ground and light fleecy clouds floated in 
the air. I managed to ascend to about 15,000 feet, 
and collected in the sheltered spots some beetles 
