254 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
ponies ; but, according to a further statement (probably true) elicited by questioning the same authority, the track is possible also for a yak.
Leaving the Misgan Jilga a little below Camp 136, we turned up the Yurzanuk valley, where in some places the jungle was very dense and troublesome. Under the tall, thick grass there was hidden a very narrow and dry .. watercourse, into which one of the yaks fell. The animal dropped almost entirely out of sight, only his head and the load he carried remaining visible. The banks were so close together that he could scarcely move, and it was with great difficulty that he could be lifted. All the men were required to bear a hand, and at length, after much expenditure of labour and of native oaths, the yak was set. on his feet on the bank. Our first day's march was short, for we considered it prudent to camp at a spot where grass, fuel, and water were found in sufficient quantities, though the spring which supplied the water was frozen almost solid, and the camping-ground was so narrow that it did not contain level ground enough for one tent.
The men were now apparently desirous of reaching home, and gave no trouble when I urged them to start early in the morning. We were still on ground familiar to the yak-men, one of whom, though persistently disclaiming all knowledge of the country, had his home only four miles up the valley from Camp 138. There he lived in company with some shepherds from Dia, one of whom was uncle to Yul Bash, and their winter encampment of two wretched huts in the midst of a scene of desolation was like a picture of forlorn misery. Even fuel and grass were scarce, and, as there was no stream or spring within four ruiles,, they had to obtain water from melted snow.
From a peak slightly higher than the Yurzanuk Pass
wide view was obtained, embracing some of the peaks already fixed, and Rain Singh was able to sketch a good
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