72 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TUPKF_STAA
halt. He promptly removed the saddle from his pony and I speedily followed his example, supposing that this was to be our resting-place for the night. We took our frugal midday repast of bread and meat, and then, leaving our animals loose among the grass, set out on foot towards some adjacent hills. When we had finished our reconnaissance we returned to the pools, but found no sign of the caravan. In my eagerness to explore the neighbourhood I had thought too little of the weakness of the -transport animals, which now with difficulty could travel ten miles a day, a distance which my guide and I had exceeded a good deal. We therefore sought our ponies, but they, rejoicing in their liberty, would not be caught. They seemed to delight in the annoyance they gave, circling round us and approaching so near that I could once or twice touch them but was unable to .grasp the head collar. I succeeded at length in getting hold of the guide's pony, but all efforts to catch my own, which was of stronger build, failed. The large saddle I placed on the small pony, balancing it carefully, for the girths were quite useless, and then rode slowly back, attended by the guide, who carried his own saddle, while my pony gambolled round him at a few yards' distance.
At Camp 57 our caravan remained two days, while Pike went on to Charol or Shemen Cho to boil thermometers and obtain a view of the region through which we should have to pass. Leno and I devoted ourselves to climbing mountains, sketching, and looking for sites for hill stations. To the north-east of our camp there was a lofty mountain which commanded a wide tract of country, and we had no doubt of finding on it a suitable spot for one of our stations. For the second, however, we had more difficulty in discovering a convenient place. Leno, attended by a number of men, took the theodolite to the
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