DISCOVERIES OF INSCRIBED STONES 1075 
liks, the tracks were not more than five days old at the very 
most. Anyhow, we were once more clearly coming within 
reach of our fellow-men. This discovery put new life into 
the men. They kept a sharp look-out for further signs. 
We might any time now expect to meet Mongols or 
shepherds. 
On the opposite side of the cauldron-shaped valley we 
ascended between two mountain-spurs to an inconsiderable 
pass {14,950 feet). There, at the foot of a sand-dune, 
beside some frozen springs, we pitched our tents. This 
march cost two more horses their lives. 
September 30th. The night was bright but cold. In 
the morning' the country was wreathed in mist, and every 
blade of grass and every projecting stone was feathered 
with the long white plumes of the rime-frost. The pass 
led dowm into a tolerably broad grassy valley, through 
which babbled a little brook. A short clLstance down the 
valley we caught sight of a black object standing on the 
left bank of the stream. I took it for a yak lying down 
and resting ; but after we advanced a little nearer, the 
men asserted that it was a nishau (sign, guide-post). 
We made our way towards it, and were not a little amazed 
to find in the midst of this wild region an obo (religious 
monument) of such an original and beautiful construction 
as this was. It had no doubt been built to propitiate the 
deities of the mountain, and consisted of large slates 
leaning one against another, covered all over with in- 
scriptions. At last we were getting w'ind in our sails. 
The caravan was called in, and up went the tents immedi- 
ately adjoining the obo ; although we had travelled very 
little more than five miles. There was work here however 
to keep me busy for two whole days. The grass was 
better than usual ; the brook would supply us with water. 
A horse and a donkey had, it is true, been left behind in 
the pass ; but that only proved how needful it was to give 
the animals as much rest as we could possibly spare them. 
My first step was to sketch this remarkable structure, 
and I sketched it from each of its four sides. The 
ground-plan of the obo resembled the ground-plan of a 
