material counts for nothing, though a smooth lake surface is rippled by the gale in a second, while it takes centuries to carve out the same fine designs in the hard limestone.
In the deserts and steppes round Chupunun there are plenty of gazelles, and the three recently shot specimens we bought afforded us excellent kebàb for two days' journey. Of wild asses there are none ; wolves and foxes occur in the hills, where rock pigeons are very common. Mosquitoes buzzed over the pond and made very importunate visits to our tents,—it is not to be wondered at that they find their way so far into the desert as long as there is a puddle of water to be found ; they come with the men and animals.
At Chupunun there is a red, crystalline, fossil-bearing limestone in situ. The absolute height is 2966 feet.
IIIF Color HighRes
