OTHER DOMESTICATED CATTLE 193 
not attempt. There is a certain sense of safety in 
being on the back of a yak among these mountains, 
such as one has in riding on an elephant in a tiger- 
hunt ; you feel that nothing but a very large rock, or 
the fall of half a mountain, or something of that kind, 
will make it lose its footing ; but it does require some 
time for the physical man to get accustomed to its 
saddle, to its broad back, and to its deliberate motion 
when its rider is upon it and not in a position to be 
charged." 
In Leh and other valleys in Ladak the half-bred 
zo, of which the female is called zomo, is employed 
in ploughing; but the pure-bred yak does not take 
kindly to that kind of labour. Forty years ago the 
number of domesticated yak kept by the people of 
Rupsu was estimated at between four and five 
hundred.^ These Rupsu Tatars depend entirely for 
their means of livelihood on their flocks and herds, 
and are the great carriers across the high plateau 
lying between Leh and Kulu, the smaller kinds of 
baggage being carried on the backs of sheep and 
goats, while the yaks are reserved for the burdens of 
greater weight and bulk. 
^ See F. Drew, The Jwnmoo and Kashmir Territories^ London, 1875, 
p. 246. 
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