forth from the mountain a little to the south of our
camping-ground; these were impregnated with sulphur
and soda and discharged a considerable amount of
water into the river—the temperature of the springs
varied greatly, the hottest registering 125° F. The
heat produced appeared to have but little effect on
the surrounding snow, which lay deep right up to the
margins of the springs. We decided to halt a day
at Kyam to enable the hired transport, of which the
greater part was still on the road, to overtake us.
The winter had been exceptionally severe and long,
and as the Ladakis make but little provision for the
wants of their animals, they were thin and weak, and
only equal to light loads and short marches.
On the first day of our stay at this place we
experienced the full benefit of the west wind; the
tents strained under the howling blast and yakdans
and rocks had to be placed on the pegs to prevent
them from being torn out of the ground, and with all
this raging hurricane not a cloud was to be seen in
the sky.
Hargreaves went into my tent after tea and found
that the fowls had taken possession of the bed, there
being great competition for sleeping accommodation
on my pillow. Two, bolder than the rest, refused at
first to give up possession, and on being ejected, crept
in again under the flies of the tent. Their perseverance,
however, cost them their lives, for they
decorated our dinner-table in the evening.
Our brave Kashmiris, who had been boasting of
the dangers they would face in our service, began
to feel a little nervous, now that we were close to
the frontier, as to what would happen should we
encounter any Tibetans. Sabhana, the shikari, was
the first to show the white feather. He came to us in
the evening, asking for leave to return to Kashmir;
I not, as he explained, that he was afraid of any man,
I but feared that his health would give way, and he
I was reluctant to be a burden to us. His request was
I refused, as we considered that it would be a bad
I precedent to allow him to g o ; though, as it happened,
I it might have been better for us had we sent him
back with several others of his kidney, for they
I eventually proved quite useless, doing no work and
I eating large quantities of precious provisions.
Our halt at Kyam proved disappointing, for only
ten animals with twenty maunds of grain came into
camp. This grain was washed and sifted, and when
I dry was placed in the ponies’ saddle-bags together with
I chopped straw. These saddle-bags are called taquals,
I and, when filled in this manner, act as an extra pad
I for the animal’s back, and provide several additional
I feeds in case of emergency.
By the evening of the second day only half of the
I hired transport had put in an appearance, but we
j determined, nevertheless, to start on the morrow,
I leaving a man behind with orders for the stragglers
to follow us to Arport Tso where we would await their
arrival for eight days.
From Kyam a short and pleasant march of seven
miles brought us to Kepsang nullah. We were much
I struck by the varied and brilliant colours of the mountains,
their slopes covered with patches of boortsa, a
diminutive shrub which only flourishes at high altitudes.
Though this bush rarely exceeds nine inches in
height, yet its long fibrous roots afford excellent fuel,
and so it is always a welcome sight to the traveller—
indeed, without it, man would find it very difficult to
I exist at all in this country.
Several female antelope were seen in the neighbour