broken one of theirs. Travelling without fire-arms
sounds strange in India, but in these regions animal life
is very rare, and to come within shot of a flock of wild
sheep was a contingency I had never contemplated.
Considering how very short we were of any food, and
quite out of animal diet, I could not but regret the
want of a gun, but consoled myself by reflecting that
the instruments were still more urgently required to
enable me to survey this extremely interesting valley.
As it was, the great beasts trotted off, and turned to
tantalise me by grazing within an easy stalking distance.
I saw several other flocks of thirty to forty, during the
day, but never, either on this or any future occasion,
within shot. The Ovis Ammon of Pallas stands from
four to five feet high, and measures seven feet from
nose to tail; it is quite a Tibetan animal, and is seldom
seen below 14,000 feet, except when driven lower by
snow; and I have seen it as high as 18,000 feet. The
same animal, I believe, is found in Siberia, and is allied
to the Big-horn of North America.
Soon after descending to the broad and open floor of
the valley, I came on a second dry lake-bed, a mile
long, with shelving banks all round, heavily snowed on
the shaded side; the river meandered through it, and a
fine glacier-bound valley opened into it from the south.
A rather steep ascent through a contracted part of
the valley led to another lake-bed, a quarter of a mil^
long and 100 yards broad, covered with patches of
snow, and facing the stupendous masses of snow and
ice which filled the upper part of the Yangma valley.
This lake-bed (altitude 15,186 feet) was strewed with