,,tibet ,,nepal ,,painted ,,described ,,by ,a4 ,,henry ,,savage ,,landor ,,published ,,by ,a4 ,c4 ,,black ,,soho ,,square,,london,w ,published ,january #aije ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations #a4 ,yellow ,lamas with ,prayer-,wheels ,frontispiece ,,facing ,,page #b4 ,the ,sacred ,swings of ,debi ,dhura #af #c4 ,an ,awkward ,moment #bb #d4 ,a ,daramsalla #cj #e4 ,a ,moment of ,suspense #cd #f4 ,red ,lamas #dd #g4 ,tibetan ,man spinning ,wool #df #h4 ,a ,nepalese ,shoka #dh #i4 ,a ,nepalese ,lady #eb #aj4 ,a ,nepalese ,woman #eh #aa4 ,a ,typical ,native of ,n4,w4 ,nepal #fj #ab4 ,the ,elfrida ,landor ,glacier1 ,nepal #fd #ac4 ,funnels in the ,moraine ,ice #fh #ad4 ,the ,armida ,landor ,glacier1 ,nepal #gj #ae4 ,author's ,camp1 ,nepal #gd #af4 ,one of the ,lumpa ,peaks and part of the ,charles ,landor ,glacier #gh #ag4 ,deep ,crevasses in the ,glacier ,ice #hj #ah4 ,rocks of all ,sizes rolled with great ,force down the ,mountain ,side #hb #ai4 ,the ,birth of an ,avalanche #hd #bj4 ,a ,perilous ,crossing #hf #ba4 ,a4 ,henry ,savage ,landor and the ,four ,men who accompanied him on his ,ascent to #bc1dij feet above ,sea-,level #ij #bb4 ,the ,highest ,mountain ,altitude ever reached by a ,human ,being #ib #bc4 ,within an ,ace of being precipitated some #fejj feet on to the ,glacier below #if #bd4 ,the ,lumpa ,basin and ,charles ,landor ,glacier #ih #be4 ,a ,balancing ,feat #ajj #bf4 ,moraine of ,glacier and ,mountains1 showing how ,clouds form on the ,snow-,line #ajb #bg4 ,erecting ,chokdens 7,cairns7 on the ,savage ,pass #ajf #bh4 ,night-marching in a ,storm #ajh #bi4 ,a ,sea of ,mist #aaj #cj4 ,elongated ,shadows on a ,sea of ,mist #aab #ca4 ,concentric ,circles of ,radiant ,beauty formed by the ,sun shining through ,mist #aad #cb4 ,clouds forming on the ,snow-,line #aaf #cc4 ,author's ,tents4 ,a ,camp in ,nepal #aah #cd4 ,the ,tinker ,pass1 ,nepal-,tibet #abb #ce4 ,flying ,prayers and a ,mani ,wall #abd #cf4 ,a ,tibetan ,baby ,girl #abf #cg4 ,a ,tibetan ,girl #abh #ch4 ,tibetan ,woman of the ,commoner ,class #acj #ci4 ,tibetan ,lady #acb #dj4 ,an ,old ,lady and her ,prayer-,wheel #acd #da4 ,tibetan ,dogs #acf #db4 ,a ,tibetan ,camp of ,black ,tents #ach #dc4 ,interior of a ,tibetan ,tent1 showing ,churn for mixing ,tea with ,butter #adj #dd4 ,a ,little ,boy learning to ,pray #adb #de4 ,interior of ,tibetan ,temple #add #df4 ,tibetan ,women weaving #adf #dg4 ,tibetan ,women cleaning ,wool #adh #dh4 ,a ,lama ,standard-,bearer #aej #di4 ,a ,race for the ,kata #aed #ej4 ,tibetan ,soldier at ,target ,practice #aef #ea4 ,tibetan ,woman using a ,sling for throwing ,stones #aeh #eb4 ,tibetan ,games4 ,stone-,throwing #afj #ec4 ,tobogganing made easy #afb #ed4 ,tibetan ,dance with ,sword and ,kata 7,veil of ,friendship7 #afd #ee4 ,a ,typical ,tibetan #aff #ef4 ,woman and ,child praying before a ,shrine inside a ,tent #agj #eg4 ,tibetan ,boy in his ,gold-embroidered ,hat #agb #eh4 ,a ,brigand #agd #ei4 ,a ,tibetan ,spy in the ,disguise of a ,beggar approaching the ,author's ,camp #agf #fj4 8,chakzal1 ,chakzal40 ,the ,tibetan ,salutation #agh #fa4 ,a ,picturesque ,old ,fellow #ahj #fb4 ,an ,ambidexter ,lama ,sculptor carving an ,inscription on the ,face of a ,rock #ahb #fc4 ,a ,weird ,old ,man of ,n4,w4 ,nepal #ahf #fd4 ,over a ,pass in a ,coming ,storm #ahh #fe4 ,calling ,two ,followers lost in the ,storm #aij #ff4 ,tibetan ,goat #aib #fg4 ,a ,troublesome ,descent on ,vertical ,rocks #aid #fh4 ,a ,phantom ,lion of ,gigantic ,proportions #aih #fi4 ,the ,nui ,glacier #bjb #gj4 ,ascent to the ,nui ,pass #bjd #ga4 ,observations for ,altitude taken under ,difficulties on the ,nui ,pass1 ,darma #bjh #gb4 ,a ,shrine of ,curious ,buddha ,images #bab #gc4 ,the ,sacrifice of a ,yak #bbb #gd4 ,goats carrying ,loads of ,borax #bbd #ge4 ,yaks and ,ponies conveying ,wool across the ,frontier #bbf ,,chapter ,i 8,once you have visited the snows of the ,himahlyas10 said a venerable old man of ,kumaon to me1 8you will have to return to them time after time until you die4 ,when away from them1 all through your life you will ever see them before you in your dreams40 ,well1 that was quite so2 and that is what everybody feels who has spent some time on the higher elevations of that majestic range of mountains4 ,to any one who appreciates ,nature in all its grandeur1 the fascination is so great that everything else in the way of scenery sinks into perfect insignificance by their side4 ,it is1 to my mind1 rather a pity that in ,england people have not yet learnt to call that range by its proper and poetic name 8,himahlyas10 by which the range is known all over ,asia1 instead of the distorted 8,himalayas10 which has no meaning whatever except to natives of these foggy little islands4 ,the ,americans1 ,i am glad to say1 when the corrected pronunciation was pointed out1 at once accepted it1 and it is now taught in all the schools4 ,two years had elapsed since my first journey across ,tibet1 and ,i was still suffering greatly from the effects of the tortures and wounds which had been inflicted upon me during my captivity in the ,forbidden ,land4 ,nor did banquets and receptions and interviewers1 autograph-collectors1 etc41 much help to rebuild my constitution4 ,in fact1 while in ,london1 instead of improving ,i was getting weaker and more of an invalid every day4 ,in doctors ,i have no superabundant faith1 but somehow or other felt that a little change from the monotony of a civilised existence1 in the shape of chasing about their country some of my ,tibetan friends who had tortured me1 might possibly be of some benefit to my health4 ,and if you take it into your head that something will do you good1 it is not unusual that some sort of a cure results from it4 ,so1 again ,i bundled my blankets1 my surveying instruments1 several cameras1 and hundreds of plates1 provisions1 and painting materials1 and by the first ,p4 and ,o4 steamer sailed for ,bombay4 ,from that place ,i went by rail to ,kathgodam1 thence by trail to the hill-station ,almora in the ,north-,west ,provinces1 which ,i again made my starting-point1 as in the first journey4 ,perhaps it may interest the reader to know that the entire preparations1 the selection of all my followers1 the purchase of an excellent ,tibetan pony1 and of all the outfit and provisions to last my men several months1 were accomplished in the short space of twelve hours4 ,the selection of men for the type of expeditions ,i undertake1 in which abnormal endurance is required1 is not an easy matter1 but ,i was particularly fortunate on that occasion4 ,big athletic fellows ,i generally avoid as absolutely useless for work requiring steady endurance and quick perception4 ,i gave preference to small1 determined1 wiry men1 light in weight1 supple and quick in their movements4 ,having satisfied myself that they were perfectly sound in lungs1 heart1 and digestive organs--they were1 indeed1 too sound in the latter respect--we were ready to start the following day4 ,each man carried a weight of #bj seers 7or #dj lbs471 a light load1 as ,i intended doing double and treble marches daily4 ,it was my intention to do a considerable amount of mountaineering en route1 and ,i did it2 but1 contrary to the usual custom of ,british mountaineering expeditions 7which set out with much flourish of trumpets7 ,i did not burden myself with the company of ,swiss ,alpine guides4 ,here is the reason4 ,i am well aware that it impresses a good many brainless folks to hear that an expedition to the ,andes or the ,himahlyas is accompanied1 even led1 by ,swiss guides2 but to any real mountaineer 7,i do not mean members of ,alpine ,clubs7 the very fact that the members of such an expedition require guides at all is but a plain avowal that they have no faith in themselves1 besides displaying a most infantile ignorance of how to find their way about4 ,no mountaineer1 who is a real mountaineer1 ever needs to be told which is the best way to go up a mountain which is before him4 ,his very instinct and observation tell him4 ,let me remind you that the characteristics of mountains in different parts of the world vary to a considerable extent4 ,it therefore seems to me that to employ a man 7however fine a fellow he may be7 who has spent his life hauling hysterical ,alpinists by a much-beaten trail up ,mont ,blanc or the ,matterhorn1 to show the way up a virgin ,himahlyan peak1 is as delightfully absurd as it would be to charter an untravelled ,london cabman to show you with intelligence the sights of ,moscow1 or ,bagdad1 or ,jerusalem6 ,do not forget1 too1 that ,mont ,blanc or the ,matterhorn are perfectly insignificant hills when compared to peaks in the ,himahlyas4 ,as you know1 the chief hobby and boast of certain ,alpinists is to climb mountains by impracticable ways4 ,this practice is to be condemned4 ,in plain words1 any man who tries to go up a mountain by any but the easiest way is an idiot1 and should be confined to a lunatic asylum4 ,when difficulties arise1 and many do1 naturally they have to be overcome as best one can4 ,then again1 there are many feats in mountaineering and rock-climbing which appear very dangerous and are not dangerous at all to any one with steady head1 heart1 and legs2 but the absurd mania of obtaining notoriety by going up a peak by a dangerous route when an easier way exists has no more sense in it than were a horseman to try and ride his horse under its tail instead of upon its back6 ,it is not real sport1 and sport1 above all things1 should never be purposeless nor foolish4 ,mountaineering1 by any one in full possession of all his senses1 is a delightful amusement1 and possibly the pleasantest1 healthiest1 and most instructive exercise in existence4 ,it develops every muscle in one's body1 makes one quick of sight and hearing1 expands1 cleans1 and purifies one's lungs1 and it makes one--when dependent on oneself--a quick observer and a subtle student of ,nature1 its forces1 and the ways of elements and how to counterbalance them4 ,it should1 therefore1 be encouraged in any one born for the work2 but1 on the other hand1 should be left severely alone by any one not specially constructed for the work by ,mother ,nature4 ,it can but mean disaster in the end1 and it generally does4 ,unfortunate1 too1 is the man who in 8exploring mountaineering0 follows the rules and regulations laid down by theoretical but inexperienced amateurs of certain ,alpine institutions4 ,a practical mountaineer has nothing to learn from such misleading publications1 whether brought out under the patronage of ,clubs or by some enterprising charlatan or other4 ,the constant suggestions to provide oneself with all sorts of expensive and cumbersome tools1 axes1 alpenstocks1 and other impedimenta are merely to swell the pockets of advertisers who support those publications1 rather than to safeguard the life of intending mountaineers4 ,personally1 and ,i am speaking from a somewhat extensive experience1 ,i owe my success and the lack of serious accidents in any of my mountaineering expeditions absolutely to the using none of the appliances recommended by ,alpine clubs4 ,i mention this at the outset to prevent the usual criticisms accusing me of having neglected precautions4 ,it was done wilfully on my part1 because1 as far as mountaineering is concerned1 ,i prefer to use what little common-sense ,i possess in preference to accepting the large amount of nonsense offered by other people4 ,i had spared no expense and trouble to obtain the best scientific instruments possible for taking observations1 and they were specially manufactured for me1 light in weight and extra strong1 and with special cases to protect them from injury in the roughest of travelling4 ,my instruments were tested at the ,kew ,observatory--both before going out of and after my return to ,england--and found in perfect condition4 ,all altitudes of importance were invariably measured with the hypsometrical apparatus1 several boiling-point thermometers being successively used in the observation4 ,for differential heights of no great significance aneroids were used4 ,all bearings were taken with a prismatic compass1 and for latitude and longitude a #f-;inch sextant was used1 a chronometer watch1 mercury and plate-glass artificial horizons4 ,necessarily1 ,i carried maximum and minimum thermometers and all necessary instruments and appliances for surveying work1 photography1 painting1 etc4 ,several rifles and double-barrelled guns1 a revolver1 eight thousand rounds of ammunition1 and ten pounds of gunpowder were carried1 in case we had to do some shooting2 while each man was given a large ,gurkha kukri for his own protection4 ,for our needs ,i carried money in solid silver and gold4 ,my tinned provisions were prepared for me in ,london1 and were very good4 ,all my most valuable possessions were packed in air-tight cases of my own design1 which1 as on previous journeys1 ,i found answered very well4 ,a ,tibetan tent1 #g feet high1 #aj feet long1 and #h feet wide1 twelve pounds only in weight2 a small tente d'abri1 and some shelters formed my camp4 ,last1 but not least1 let me give some advice regarding your clothing when you go mountaineering4 ,do not masquerade for the occasion in fancy tweeds of startling cut1 clumsy mufflers and gloves1 and patent hobnailed boots4 ,wear the sort of clothes and footgear you are accustomed to put on every day4 ,you will feel a great deal more comfortable1 less ridiculous1 and certainly a great deal safer4 ,personally1 ,i wear the same sort of clothing--serge suits of the thinnest tropical material--in any country and in any climate1 with no underwear2 thin socks1 shoes of medium weight with no nails under the soles4 ,i am very fortunate in one way1 never feeling the slightest inconvenience through intense heat or cold4 ,it is partly due1 ,i think1 to one's constitution and circulation of one's blood1 partly to habit1 and a good deal to being hardened through constant roughing4 ,perhaps others1 with not so rough a training1 may not go quite so far2 but never forget that the more you feel at your ease in your attire1 the less you are hampered with articles of any kind which you are not accustomed to use every day1 the more successful you will be in your mountaineering expeditions--especially on unknown mountains4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,from ,almora to the ,tibetan frontier ,i followed1 to a great extent1 a different route from the one ,i had taken on my first journey1 as ,i wanted to visit en route the interesting shrine of ,debi ,dhura4 ,the character of the country traversed varied little from that already described in a previous work4 ,i will only in this book describe things and places and incidents of the journey that are quite new1 leaving out a detailed account of my itinerary4 ,passing through forests of walnut trees1 fine oak and deodars1 kaiphal1 rhododendrons1 utis1 and yew1 and travelling at elevations varying from #eeaj feet at ,almora to #ffcj feet at ,debi ,dhura1 ,i reached in two days' journey the sacred temple situated on a great granitic plateau1 the ridge of which extends for several miles4 ,it was in the afternoon4 ,during the entire journey rain had come down in torrents2 but as ,i arrived at ,debi ,dhura1 the storm1 which had been particularly fierce that day1 cleared as by magic2 the heavy1 leaden-black clouds rolled away on every side1 leaving behind most exquisite tints1 of gold and red and green1 of a superb sunset4 ,with the wind rising1 the white mist which covered the valleys below us rose slowly like a curtain1 and a magnificent panorama shone in radiant beauty in the now crystalline atmosphere4 ,beyond the lower and nearer ranges of pure cobalt blue and dark warm greens1 towered to the north snow-clad mountains of absolutely sublime beauty4 ,shortly after my arrival an old priest came to greet me4 ,he had in his hands a brass vessel filled with red flowers which he offered me1 begging me to follow him to the shrine across the road4 8,this is the world-famous shrine of ,debi ,dhura1 the shrine to ,mahadeva ,varahi ,debi and ,bhimden10 said he1 with a series of grand salaams4 8,ah1 sahib1 your health and soul will greatly benefit by your visit here10 muttered the cunning old rascal1 who by now had been joined by other priests4 ,we walked up past the sacred swings to the temple standing on the crown of a hill among really beautiful deodar1 walnut1 oak1 and ,olea fragrans trees4 ,the temple itself was of no interest or beauty1 but curious indeed were the gigantic boulders leaning against each other1 allowing a narrow entrance into a cave containing a well and a shrine4 ,no foreigner is allowed inside the cave1 for it is--they say--the home of ,debi1 and must not be desecrated by humans of other faiths4 ,my men seemed greatly excited over their visit to the cave1 and they were profound in their salaams4 ,they were muttering fervent prayers when they came out4 ,on being asked what they had seen inside1 they would not or could not say4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,i believe they had seen nothing1 for the cave was very dark4 ,on we went1 down some slippery steps1 until we came--some hundred yards below--to a curious rock rising to a great height above the ground4 8,ransila1 the giant10 called out the priest1 pointing at the rock and calling it by its name4 ,we climbed upon it to examine the extraordinary crack which split the rock in two4 ,the fissure was so clean and sharp that it seemed produced by a violent blow rather than by the action of water4 ,a similar crack was noticeable in a lower rock1 and neither of these fissures seemed very ancient4 ,lightning may have caused them1 or more possibly an earthquake4 ,the explanation given by the priests was quaint1 and it was interesting to watch the expressions on my men's faces1 who received with great suspicion my matter-of-fact explanation of how those cracks came to be2 whereas they gazed open-mouthed and took in unreservedly the fairy legend recited to us by the priest4 ,here is the legend4 ,bhim ,sen or ,bem ,sing and ,debi were one day playing pachisi1 a game resembling chess1 and very common in ,india4 ,they were seated on the above-described granitic boulder1 8the ,ransila10 and to give colour to this narrative a square engraved in the rock marks the spot where they sat4 ,other mystic signs1 marks1 and figures are also pointed out to credulous pilgrims4 ,it appears that while so engaged1 ,bem ,sing heard the voice of a shert1 a rich man1 drowning in the distant ocean1 hundreds and hundreds of miles away4 ,he listened4 ,the shert prayed ,god to live4 ,regardless of the fact that the distance from ,debi ,dhura to the ocean is1 as the crow flies1 at least #gjj miles1 ,debi remained quite unconcerned1 and continued to play the game with his right hand1 while he stretched--the legend does not say whether to its full extent--the left arm and lifted from the foaming water not only the drowning man but the sinking ship as well4 ,on withdrawing his arm and resting it upon his lap the attention of his partner as well as of the onlookers was attracted by the wet on ,debi's hand and forearm4 ,they inquired the cause1 but ,debi curtly requested them to mind their own business and go on with the game4 ,puzzled and angry1 the others demanded an explanation4 ,insulting remarks were made and1 finding no other explanation1 a suggestion was made that he was perspiring something else instead of perspiration from his arm4 ,at this point ,debi deemed it prudent to vanish4 ,bem ,sing's wrath was at its zenith4 ,amazed1 even upset1 he searched for ,debi all around1 and1 unable to find him1 he seized a large boulder and with it struck the big rock ,ransila with such violence that he split it in two1 in order to discover whether ,debi was hiding inside it4 ,the onlookers in the meantime1 terrified by the doings of these abnormal beings1 had fled in all directions1 while ,debi had quietly retired to the cave which ,i have already described1 and where--they say--he dwells still4 ,the boulder used by ,bem ,sing in his feat of strength is shown to this day to the open-mouthed pilgrims at ,debi ,dhura4 ,so firmly had he grasped it in his hands that the marks of his fingers and thumbs are still deeply impressed upon the granite4 ,the end of the legend brought forth the usual request for a generous backshish1 while more flowers were produced and handed to my followers1 who adorned their ears and caps with them4 ,we returned to the sacred swings1 of great height1 with iron chains instead of ropes1 upon which pilgrims1 old and young1 swing themselves1 either singly or in couples4 ,during the months of ,june1 ,july1 and ,august1 when a pilgrimage and fair are held at the shrine1 these swings are kept going all day and the greater part of the night4 ,thousands upon thousands of devotees visit the weird rocks and leave handsome oblations4 ,a special festival is held in ,august1 when throngs of natives assemble and sacrifice goats1 sheep1 and occasionally buffaloes4 ,as many as one hundred sheep are killed during one of these festivals1 and the sacrifice takes place either on the ,ransila rock or at the entrance of the cave4 ,everything at ,debi ,dhura is connected with stones and rocks4 ,between the two swings and near a quadrangular stone wall some four or five feet high1 lay a big natural ball of granite1 called 8,chela10 or 8the test of strength40 ,they say that only one man in a hundred can raise it above the ground1 one in a thousand is able to lift it up to his waist1 and not a human being alive can lift it up and deposit it on the wall4 ,whoever performed the latter deed would have every happiness for ever4 ,although according to the priests the stone weighed #djjj lbs41 its actual weight was not more than #cej lbs42 only it was difficult to get hold of it1 and it was well-nigh impossible to do so by sheer strength4 ,but when brute strength fails1 ruse is often easily successful1 and so1 being somewhat versed in the laws of leverage1 balance1 and impetus1 ,i succeeded1 much to the amazement of everybody1 in placing that stone upon the wall4 ,it was an effort though1 ,i can tell you4 ,a peculiar feature of the annual fair is the procession from the shrine in the cave to the summit of the hill1 a few hundred yards off1 upon which is a stone shed and a cairn4 ,the men who carry the stone idol in this procession are all stark-naked1--a very unusual case with ,hindoos1--and so also are many who follow in the procession4 ,another feature of the festival is that strange custom which one finds in most countries of ,asia--the annual stone-fights4 ,about a thousand men collect in an open space1 and are divided into legions of five hundred each1 a short distance from each other4 ,when both parties have amassed in their respective camps a suitable amount of ammunition in the way of stones1 collected in mounds1 and also a good supply carried on the person1 the combatants draw nearer and nearer in a line4 ,at a signal the fight begins1 and they fling stones at one another by means of slings and forked sticks1 whirling the missiles through the air with terrific force4 ,the more people get injured the fiercer becomes the fight1 till the ammunition fails1--and it lasts a long time1 because the combat is1 as it were1 a mere exchange of ammunition4 ,the wives and daughters and sweethearts of the combatants view the mele with trembling hearts from a raised point of vantage well out of range of the missiles4 ,the fighters get to such close quarters that pounding one another on the head with stones is not uncommon1 and it is only when all are worn1 wounded1 aching1 and blinded by the dust and blood that an armistice is called4 ,hardly any one escapes unhurt1 but no one ever complains1 no matter how serious their wounds may be1 as they believe that no one can actually be killed in these sacred fights4 ,as each man falls senseless to the ground1 he is conveyed to the temple where the following treatment awaits him4 ,the ,brahmin priests beat and rub him well with a bunch of nettles4 ,it is said to be an infallible remedy4 ,no ill-feeling is said to remain between the legions after the fight is over1 and with bandaged heads and limbs they all join in a common bura kana--a big meal4 ,the fights generally begin by the children being made to fight first1 the elders joining in when well excited over their sons' doings4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,the trail1 which had made a somewhat circuitous deviation southward of ,debi ,dhura1 began to turn to the east1 and soon after towards the north-east4 ,after leaving ,debi ,dhura it brought the traveller to the summit of the granitic range which the trail followed all along1 amidst country thickly wooded with oaks1 rhododendrons1 pines1 and deodars4 ,the whole journey was made at high elevations1 through dense forests1 with a feeling of damp about everything2 the trees1 soaked and dripping1 standing like black giants in the penetrating white mist that enveloped us4 ,one could not see more than twenty or thirty yards off4 ,in many places the trail was narrow1 and it had been built by blasting the steep rocky mountainside and filling whatever gaps there were with a wall supported on outstanding boulders below4 ,the trail was in such places hardly more than three or four feet wide1 and no parapet of any kind existed to prevent unlucky travellers from falling over into the precipice several hundred feet in depth at the side4 ,in fair weather1 when the trail was dry1 and when a trustworthy animal was being ridden1 there would1 of course1 be no danger of any kind2 but when ,i went through1 the path was slimy and slippery1 and my pony--although excellent and sure-footed1 quite like a goat on a mountain trail--possessed the bad habit of shying at anything moving upon the ground1 and particularly at the whitewashed milestones1 when he would invariably make a few contortions1 and end up by standing on his hind legs with a final leap forward when the whip was duly applied upon his back4 ,i had just passed one of these mile-posts1 and expecting a peaceful ride until we came to the next1 ,i pulled out my notebook and was jotting down some observations4 ,we were then at a considerable height1 the trail1 cut into the rock1 winding its way along the summit of the mountainside4 ,it was about sunset1 and everything around me was silent but for the clatter of my pony's hoofs upon the wet trail1 or every now and then the noise of a stone rolling down into the precipice some #hjj feet deep4 ,in going round a corner a man appeared enveloped in a red blanket1 the end of which was fluttering in the breeze4 ,unexpectedly my pony neighed frantically1 gave a powerful jerk1 backed1 and slipped with his hind legs off the trail4 8,jupiter60 ,i exclaimed as ,i tried to jump off the saddle4 ,my blood turned cold2 but before ,i had time to dismount1 the pony which was resting with his body on the trail1 scrambled up again on it in the most miraculous manner4 ,in a perfect frenzy he now bolted full gallop along the tortuous and narrow way4 ,in my attempt to get off1 the reins had got loose and entangled1 and ,i had taken my left foot off the stirrup4 ,a glance at the illustration depicting this incident will show the kind of place where it occurred2 and it can easily be imagined that a pony1 dashing along round corners involved some minor dangers to the rider1 such as smashing one's knee or head against projecting boulders4 ,worse luck1 in this unpleasant contingency1 the bit broke1 which placed me absolutely at the mercy of the pony1 who viciously rubbed against the rocks to my right1 so that the right stirrup and part of the saddle were torn off4 ,my right leg might have shared the same fate had nature not endowed me with sufficient agility to move it out of the way when necessary4 ,dismounting would have meant certain death1 because1 at the speed ,i was going1 no matter on which side ,i got off1 either directly or by recoil1 ,i should have been shot off into the abyss4 ,eventually--and when it pleased him--the pony resumed the journey in a less reckless fashion4 ,if not the best-tempered1 he was certainly the most sure-footed animal ,i had ever ridden1 and eventually he and ,i became good friends2 he lost his shyness and never again played tricks4 ,he was really as good as a goat at hill-climbing1 and he could go where a human would experience difficulty in getting along4 ,two of my men1 who1 with trembling hearts1 had witnessed the accident1 ultimately caught me up and explained to me the real cause of it4 ,simultaneously with the appearance of the man in the flapping blanket1 the pony had placed his foot on a small snake lying coiled and numbed with cold upon the road4 ,we had double and treble marches daily1 drenching rain1 and heavy trails1 but pony and men went well4 ,the pony1 ,i must say1 lost a good deal of his friskiness1 for1 in order to remove his exuberance of vigour as quickly as possible1 ,i permitted some of my men to indulge in their national habit of holding to the pony's tail while ascending steep hills4 ,we seemed to have a good many varied experiences on that trip2 the next sight being the corpse of a woman tied in a sheet to a pole1 and sprinkled all over with red paint4 ,a group of men sat by her1 and seemed concerned at the unwelcome appearance of a sahib4 ,the woman had been lynched4 ,she was said to have been beautiful1 but unfaithful to her husband1 for which latter fault she had been dragged into the forest1 ill-treated1 and eventually hanged1 her body being left for several days until the murder was discovered4 ,on the present occasion the body was being conveyed to ,almora--some fifty miles off--for the official examination and inquiry4 ,i had dismounted in order to hear the details of the tragedy1 but as the corpse was in a state of decomposition ,i jumped on the saddle again and fled1 my handkerchief held fast to my nose4 ,i was told that ,kumaonis1 especially in the particular part of the province ,i was then travelling in1 were very revengeful and much addicted to murder4 ,i1 too1 found them morose and sulky1 ever discontented1 somewhat quick-tempered and unreasonable4 ,they undoubtedly possess the vindictive and warlike characteristics of their former masters and present neighbours1 the ,nepalese1 but have lost--or possibly never possessed--any of their finer qualities4 ,since the ,british took possession of this part of ,kumaon1 crime has been put down to a certain extent1 but much difficulty1 ,i understand1 is experienced in ever discovering offenders1 who are cleverly screened from the authorities by everybody4 ,they certainly have no love1 nor even respect1 for sahibs1 and they display a supercilious look upon their countenances which makes them heartily detestable4 ,i was able to obtain additional ponies and men at ,lohagart1 formerly a military cantonment1 and to continue my journey towards the ,nepalese frontier4 ,we crossed the ,serju ,river forming the southern and northern boundaries1 respectively1 between the ,sor and ,kali ,kumaon ,parganahs1 by a forced march of twenty-one miles--quite good going with baggage and on such roads in such weather4 ,we had some difficulty in keeping to the trail in the dark forest at night1 and we had a curious instance of how superstition will work on some people's minds with quite disastrous effects4 ,all over the ,himahlyas one finds1 in some form or other1 a rooted belief in the spirits of the mountains and of the forest1 some of the spirits being benign enough1 others of a wicked temperament4 ,my sayce1 who was an excellent fellow1 but timid to a degree1 had become separated from the rest of my party and had remained far behind in charge of a recalcitrant pony and load4 ,in the middle of the night ,i heard distant cries of distress1 and1 suspecting the cause1 ,i sent some men with improvised torches to his assistance4 ,they carried in the sayce1 and on depositing him on the ground1 pronounced him dying4 ,in fact1 the poor fellow was doubled up1 delirious with fever1 and in a state of absolute nervous collapse4 ,when ,i brought a light to his face he became terrified1 wept1 and1 trembling all over1 begged for mercy4 ,he seemed to be labouring under some hallucination--some ghastly vision at all events1 for when ,i placed my hand upon his forehead he screamed and struggled in horror4 ,he entreated to be freed from the horrible figures which danced around him2 he shuddered1 and eventually his convulsions took the form of an epileptic fit4 ,this was all the result of a prolonged fright4 ,when he recovered sufficiently he told me how at night in the forest1 when he was left alone1 evil spirits surrounded him and pulled him by the hair1 the ears1 the nose1 and pinched him all over4 8,show me the marks40 8,sahib10 he said1 looking at himself all over1 8,i can see no marks1 but ,i still feel the pain where they touched me40 8,but how could you see the spirits if it was quite dark80 8,yes1 but it seemed to grow quite light when they suddenly appeared4 ,i think they were the souls of dead people4 ,they were very ugly1 sahib60 8,were they as ugly as we are80 8,yes1 sahib1 about the same6 ,i think ,i recognised some of my relations among them40 ,the poor fellow's nerves were so shattered by the fright he had experienced that he never completely recovered from the shock4 ,in other works ,i have described how the natives on the borders of ,tibet fear these spirits of the mountains1 and place obstacles1 such as thorns1 etc41 along the paths in order to prevent them entering villages1 while threads are placed along dangerous passages upon trails to facilitate the 8good spirits of the mountains0 of departed friends finding their way in the dark of the night without misadventure4 ,going now in a northerly direction we came to ,pithoragarh1 a place of former importance1 possessing the remains of a ,nepalese fort1 an elaborate structure of solid earth-works with platform for guns1 a water-tank1 and a much-loopholed quadrangular castle4 ,these structures stand on prominent points in the centre of the green and well-cultivated valley1--some fourteen square miles in extent1--dotted here and there with little villages and houses and tufts of trees1 and irrigated by several streams4 ,a low hill-range in the centre separates the valley in two4 ,while taking a photograph of the forts ,i nearly and most unexpectedly trod on a big snake1 some #h feet in length1 which lay spread in the sun4 ,he raised his prettily arched neck at my approach and hissed with some vehemence1 which ,i took for a request to stand back4 ,motionless1 he gazed at me with his vitrine eyes1 and he was so beautiful1 with iridescent scales shining like precious stones in the sun1 that for one moment ,i could not help gazing at him4 ,but as ,i had no stick nor any weapon upon me ,i cut short my part of this mutual admiration4 ,when the snake described a graceful curve and departed1 ,i1 too1 with somewhat less grace1 made a speedy retreat in the opposite direction4 ,from ,pithoragarh by quick marches ,i made rapid progress towards the frontier1 visiting en route my old friend the ,rajiwar of ,askote1 who had shown me much kindness when conveyed over the frontier after my captivity and tortures in ,tibet two years previously4 ,the entire town turned out to receive me1 and ,i was again entertained by the ,rajah in his palace4 ,it seemed rather a pity that this magnificent old fellow1 whose faithfulness to the ,british had ever been exemplary1 did not receive more courtesy from snobbish officials who occasionally visited his country1 because1 after all1 courtesy costs nothing and goes a very long way with natives of all classes4 ,the important services which he and his family have rendered in frontier matters with both ,tibet and ,nepal seemed to have been forgotten1 and with the heavy taxation that had been imposed upon him he found it difficult--at the time of my visit--to support himself and his numerous relations4 ,from a strategic point of view the ,askote valley is the principal and practically the only highway1 the key1 as it were1 to all the ,himahlyan passes leading into ,tibet from ,bhot 7both in ,darma and in ,bias71 as well as those of ,western ,nepal4 ,perhaps the fact of having in such a spot a loyal subject1 able to keep a sharp watch upon dangers that may impend in the future1 would be more valued if it were more understood4 ,after a day of festivities and excessive eating1 enlivened by most harmonious native music1 and a visit from my friends the ,raots1 the proud wild men of the forest who had on a former occasion predicted my death when ,i visited their haunt1 we travelled through the low and hot ,kali valley4 ,here malarial fever was rampant1 vermin and mosquitoes in swarms1 and rinderpest raging4 ,i was now going along the ,nepalese frontier1 the ,kali ,river defining the boundary-line between the ,north-,west ,provinces of ,india and ,nepal4 ,on entering ,bhot1 or ,little ,tibet1 we again rose to greater altitudes1 and were soon able to shake off the touch of fever which nearly all my men and myself had contracted in going through the steamy1 damp valley4 ,at ,sirka1 since my former visit1 a ,christian church of stone had risen--the first one in ,british ,tibet--the work of the untiring and self-sacrificing ,miss ,sheldon1 an ,american lady doctor1 who has for years done noble work among the ,shokas1--,shoka1 as you know1 is the local name of the inhabitants of that particular section of ,bhot4 ,when ,i passed through1 ,miss ,sheldon was busy putting on the roof of the church--an operation which ,i watched with admiration1 mingled somewhat with concern1 although ,i must confess a skilled mason could not have done it better4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,some miles farther on another surprise awaited me4 ,a new trail was being cut along the rock to shorten the ups and downs of the old 8,nerpani0--the 8waterless trail0--or1 rather1 some of the worst parts of the old trail were being modified and straightened4 ,the new trail was just as narrow and dangerous as the old one1 in some places only a couple of feet or so wide1 or even less1 with a deep precipice beneath1 and many parts1 as with the older trail1 were supported on crowbars thrust into the rock1 some slabs of stone placed upon them making the path4 ,but one thing the new trail certainly did4 ,it did away with some of the interminable flights of steps which were one of the most trying features of the old ,nerpani4 ,so that both the ,government and the ,shokas who subscribed most of the money for the work1 may be congratulated on the decided improvement of that highway into ,tibet4 ,in former days it was almost impossible to take pack-animals across1 except sheep1--and many of these always perished on each journey1--but by the new trail1 when finished1 this is feasible1 although not easy4 ,for certain reasons of my own1 and knowing the difficulty of obtaining ponies in ,tibet itself1 ,i decided to bring my pony across at all costs4 ,it was certainly a job which gave me a great many hours of hard work and anxiety4 ,the trail1 blasted into the rock or in narrow flights of steps along the high cliffs1 was wet and slippery1 and in many places hardly broad enough for the animal's body to pass without losing its balance4 ,still1 with a sling or two1 and one man holding the beast by the head and another by the tail1 we managed1 with occasional precipitous slides1 to get along pretty well4 ,in one place the pony slipped and fell sideways on the wet slabs1 and kicked fragments of the unsteady road 7in that portion laid on crowbars7 flying into the river1 down1 down below1 some #fjj or #gjj feet sheer drop4 ,in other places1 where rough scaffolding1 supported on ropes1 had been erected along the vertical rock in order to cut holes for the crowbars1 the work of conveying the pony across was by no means easy4 ,the scaffolding was generally made of a couple of trees tied together horizontally and an occasional plank4 ,perhaps the illustration representing one of these passages may give a better idea of the situation than a long description4 ,it was impossible for the pony to walk on the scaffolding1 so that we had to push him over and convey him across1 suspended1 as far as where the trail began again4 ,this we did by means of several rope slings round his body4 ,then one man held the pony's head1 while ,i held him by the tail--being the easiest to let go in case of misadventure4 ,as the weight of a pony is considerable1 the men wound the ropes several times round their wrists2 and at one moment1 when we were all in the centre of the scaffolding1 it creaked so1 and a plank on which a man stood showed such elasticity when a good deal of the weight was centered on it1 that ,i really thought we should all be precipitated down into the stream4 ,as luck would have it--and we did sweat over the undertaking1 although the day was intensely cold--we got safely on the other side4 ,perhaps ,i may mention that never in my experience have ,i seen an animal more terrified than that pony was on that occasion4 ,when we stood him again upon terra firma his legs quivered so that it was quite painful to witness1 and he neighed and neighed convulsively1 and made the sound echo all down the valley4 ,i may also add that from that same scaffolding1 that same morning1 one of the workmen had fallen over1 and his body was dashed into an unrecognisable mass on some rocks in the foaming stream below4 ,i had heard most peculiar rumours from the natives that the ,tibetans had come in great force on to ,british territory at ,garbyang1 and with great pomp and much beating of drums were proclaiming that the ,british ,government were afraid of coming to ,tibet1 and that the entire ,bias and ,chaudas had now been ceded to ,tibet4 ,it may be remembered that as early as #ahih1 after the return from my first journey to ,tibet1 ,i pointed out to the ,government the abuses of ,tibetan officials who came over to our side of the frontier1 claimed ,sah-tal or ,land ,revenue from ,british subjects1 and even tortured unprotected natives on our side of the frontier if they refused to pay4 ,some prominence was given in the ,house of ,commons to questions on this subject1 and the ,governor of the ,north-,west ,provinces had to acknowledge that such was the case1 but declared that steps would be taken to stop the abuses4 ,that the ,sah-tal was paid was admitted1 but it was stated to be a trade tax1 which was untrue1 and possibly uttered in ignorance of facts4 ,it was agreed that the payment of the ,sah-tal by ,british subjects should1 nevertheless1 be stopped1 and it was actually suspended4 ,apart from the fact that the words ,sah-tal in themselves mean 8land revenue10 and that it is paid on the amount of land possessed by ,shokas on ,british soil1 a further proof that it is a land tax is provided by the case of ,darma ,shokas1 who pay the ,sah-tal on their land to the ,jong ,pen of ,taklakot1 and who do no trading with that particular part of ,tibet4 ,furthermore1 the ,jong ,pen of ,taklakot receives the amount with the distinct understanding that it is a land tax1 and not a trade tax1 and as such it appears in ,government reports by the few ,british officials who had been to the frontier1 such as ,mr4 ,sturt1 ,mr4 ,larkin1 and other deputy commissioners and collectors1 and the ,political ,agent on the spot4 ,in ,darma the ,sah-tal was collected direct by ,jong ,pen's emissaries1 but in ,bias and ,chaudas the ,political ,agent was made to act as a servant to the ,tibetans1 and after collecting the revenue handed it over to the ,jong ,pen's officials at ,gungi and at ,garbyang1 two villages conveniently situated for the purpose4 ,chaudas1 being the most distant from the ,tibet border1 only paid a nominal sum of #aa rupees in cash1 and some #ad rolls of rough cloth2 but ,garbyang1 for instance 7besides a real trade tax jointly with ,chaudas of #cgj boxes of grain1 each containing some #bd lbs41 and #ad boxes of coarse cloth71 paid for ,sah-tal the following items3-- #hf 7three anna bits74 ,oats #abcj lbs4 ,saluk 7right of pasture7 #b ,tibetan rupees4 ,ghur 7sweet paste7 #d balls4 ,coarse cloth #c entire rolls4 ,shoka liquor #ee jars4 ,timber #cj huge logs4 ,iron #d lbs4 ,cakes1 sattoo1 charcoal1 and liquor for collecting party4 ,the village of ,kuti also paid a heavy ,sah-tal4 ,rupees #ag ,oats #abaj lbs4 ,saluk #b rupees4 ,garah cloth #dj yards4 ,haunches of mutton #ab ,jars of chkti 7wine7 #ej ,ghur #bh balls4 ,iron #b lbs4 and charcoal1 cakes1 meat1 liquor1 etc4 ,darma paid some #aej balls of ghur1 which had a local value of about #ge rupees4 ,notwithstanding that the ,government of the ,north-,west ,provinces could not or would not see matters in the right light1 it was a great gratification to me to think that1 on my giving publicity to such an injustice1 the ,government had at last deemed it right to discontinue the payment of the land revenue to ,tibetans by our frontier subjects4 ,it came1 therefore1 as a very great surprise to me1 on approaching ,garbyang1 to hear that the ,tibetans had come over to that place in great force1--with the sanction of the ,british ,government1--and that several officials1 including a ,nerba1 some ,dhats in red and black tunics and long swords1 four jimidars1 two drummers1 and a number of soldiers were parading the streets1 proclaiming the annexation of the district to ,tibet1 and ill-using the natives who differed4 ,they were gorging themselves at the expense of the natives1 and having a fine time all round4 ,at the request of a deputation of ,shokas1 ,i hastened on to ,garbyang2 but the ,tibetans1 believing that ,i was coming up with a large and well-armed expedition to take a revenge upon them for former misdeeds1 deemed it advisable to pack up their chattels1 pocket their pride1 and decamp over the frontier4 ,i met with a most enthusiastic reception from the ,garbyalis1 who wished me to remain in their village until the passes were closed up by snow so as to keep their compulsory guests away4 ,the ,shokas seemed depressed and disgusted at what they rightly believed unwarrantable treachery on the part of the ,government of ,india4 ,they had always been faithful--even under trying circumstances--to the ,british1 and such undeserved treatment led them to the one conclusion1 preached by full-powered ,tibetan lungs1 that ,england must indeed be weak1 or at least afraid of ,tibet4 ,undoubtedly these sad and unchecked occurrences all along our ,tibetan frontier--you see1 it is so uncomfortable for ,anglo-,indian officials to go up to the snows to make inquiries and so on--have been the chief cause of ,tibetan aggressiveness4 ,there is no man so brave as the one who believes his opponent is not going to fight2 and perhaps now1 after the much-trumpeted1 enigmatical expedition to ,lhassa and the unexpected sudden retreat from that city1 they will be no better than before4 ,i was unable to accede to the request of the natives to remain to protect their village1 as ,i intended going farther2 and1 moreover1 the ,government of ,india having become alarmed at my proceeding a second time towards ,tibet1 behaved with a considerable amount of amusing childishness4 ,government chaprassis were arriving in quick succession with secret orders to prevent natives selling me provisions1 to induce my men treacherously to abandon me1 steal my weapons and food1 and place every possible obstacle in my way4 ,some native friends1 who1 according to custom1 had presented me with a ball of ghur and two handfuls of rice1 were arrested and prosecuted1 being brought down to ,almora1 some #ade miles1 for the purpose4 ,others met with considerable annoyance1 accusations of all kinds being showered upon innocent people--even such gross nonsense as accusations of hiding quick-firing guns and pieces of ordnance6 ,both the ,governor and the ,commissioner at ,naini-,tal1 and the ,deputy ,commissioner of ,almora1 seemed quite hysterical over the affair1 and some absurd threatening letters were written to me4 ,my mails were invariably tampered with1 and all letters opened4 ,among the most amusing requests may be noted one that ,i should show a ,chinese passport if ,i wanted to traverse ,bhot 7,british territory71 which made it seem as if the cession of that territory to ,tibet had really been accomplished--although even then1 as ,i unfortunately experienced before1 a ,chinese ,imperial passport has as much effect upon ,tibetan officials as a piece of waste-paper would on the ,prime ,minister of ,great ,britain4 ,i was ordered to divulge my plans1 which of course ,i refused to do1 principally because ,i had no plans to divulge2 and1 further1 was told ,i must stop and 8wait for ,government orders40 ,i replied that1 being nobody's servant1 ,i would receive no one's orders4 ,i had not asked nor wished nor needed ,government assistance1 and ,i would go when and where ,i liked4 ,i was very sorry that the ,political frontier ,agent--a most sensible man--was subjected to much inconvenience and anxiety by constant orders to stop my expedition by any means--a matter in which ,i also happened to be concerned4 ,he could not1 as ordered1 starve out my expedition1 because ,i had plenty of food of my own4 ,silly as the orders given him were1 he obediently did his utmost to check my movements1 and1 moreover1 behaved like a gentleman into the bargain4 ,some spies whom ,i found in my camp came in for some severe punishment1 and two ,government chaprassis1 who had one night been despatched to threaten my men and induce them to desert and capture my food and ammunition1 received a sound thrashing1 were disarmed1 and ,i took them prisoners and brought them along with me to do some mountaineering6 ,at the same time ,i sent word to those in authority that1 when it should suit me1 on my return1 ,i would personally hand over the two prisoners4 ,further orders arrived that any one selling or giving food or showing friendship to me should be arrested and sent down to ,almora for punishment4 ,all this seemed very useless1 as ,i possessed all ,i needed2 but1 in order to prevent further persecution to some of my friends1 ,i decided to cross the boundary at once--the ,kali ,river--and enter the ,nepal kingdom--a country also closed to foreigners1 as everybody knows4 ,,chapter ,v ,in the meantime the ,tibetans1 who had hastily retreated across the boundary into their country1 had given the alarm of the approach of my expedition4 ,a spy ,i had sent over reported that great commotion reigned at ,taklakot4 ,bridges had been hastily destroyed1 stone barriers were put up1 while warlike preparations of all kinds were carried on in feverish speed4 ,a bluffing message was sent over by the ,tibetans to inform the ,political ,agent that #ejjj men were ready to meet my force and capture me again1 when they would cut off my head and throw my body into the river--a threat which was by no means new to me4 ,this sounded interesting1 only the ,tibetans forgot that they would have to catch me first6 ,the passes--both the ,lippu and the ,lumpiya 7through the latter of which ,i had evaded their vigilance on my first journey7--were1 they stated1 strongly guarded4 ,i well knew the contemptible cowardice of the ,tibetans1 and ,i took but little notice of these threats2 for this time--unlike my first journey--,i had twenty men1 all of my own selection1 and they were magnificent fellows--faithful and plucky to quite an unusual degree4 ,in answer to these ,tibetan messages to the ,government1 it is possibly of some interest to notice that the ,government of the ,north-,west ,provinces in all haste informed the authorities of ,taklakot in words to this effect3-- 8,mr4 ,landor is coming to ,tibet4 ,possibly he will enter the country4 ,the ,government of ,india has taken steps to prevent any men accompanying him1 also to take away his baggage1 provisions1 arms1 and ammunition4 ,he will enter alone and will be at your mercy4 ,we the ,government are in no way responsible for his entering ,tibet40 ,this message surprised me even less than the ,tibetan effort4 ,indeed1 ,i well knew that no one more than some officials of the ,north-,west ,provinces wished me dead4 ,you see1 ,i had on several occasions shown them up in a very poor light1 and now again ,i was discovering fresh and most unaccountable misdeeds on their part all along the line4 ,naturally1 ,i quite understood that it was an uneasy conscience and the fear of being exposed which prompted them to act in such a childish manner in order to prevent my seeing what was going on4 ,the ,political ,agent1 who was constantly receiving orders which he was powerless to carry out1 such as arresting me1--which ,i defied him to do1--seemed in much distress1 and to relieve the strain upon him ,i decided to cross over into forbidden ,nepal territory4 ,the ,british authorities had taken the precaution to warn the ,nepalese also that ,i might cross over their boundary1 that my conduct was not countenanced by the ,government1 and that soldiers must be sent to stop me and possibly capture me4 ,this led to some incidents which gave us a good deal of unexpected merriment4 ,a guard of ,nepalese soldiers was hurried up1 and1 unaware that it was there1 ,i crossed over the boundary1 with our rifles in their cases for protection against the rain1 and not at all prepared for war4 ,two of my men1 who carried a rifle each1 were a distance ahead4 ,on nearing a small fort and guard-house they were pounced upon by ,nepalese soldiers who were hiding behind some rocks1 the rifles were seized1 and the ,nepalese escaped with them into the fort up higher upon the hill4 ,my men ran back to me in a great state of excitement to report the occurrence4 ,we hurriedly prepared a plan of attack1 and without losing any time climbed up to the fort4 ,upon the walls some gaily attired figures peeped over1 brandishing kukris and a few obsolete rifles4 ,i could hear them behind strengthening the hastily barricaded door4 ,an officer peeped over and asked what we wanted4 8,i want my rifles back40 8,your rifles are not here4 ,we have already despatched them to ,katmandu0 7the capital of ,nepal74 8,very good4 ,if you do not return my rifles within two minutes we will come and get them ourselves40 8,we will fight you40 8,all right40 ,pounding with big rocks and by the aid of a wooden lever we got the door loosened1 and while the garrison's attention was directed to prevent our entering that way1 four of my best men and ,i climbed over the wall on the opposite side of the fort and covered the defenders with our rifles4 ,i demanded that they should lay down their weapons or ,i would shoot4 ,after some indecision1 most of them did4 ,the others1 especially one who fired at us1 got a severe pounding and were disarmed by my men1 who had now all entered the fort4 ,we ransacked the place1 and eventually recovered the captured rifles1 after which we bade the ,nepalese a respectful salaam and proceeded on our way4 8,but10 humbly put in the trembling ,nepalese1 8you cannot travel on ,nepal territory4 ,it is forbidden to foreigners1 and ,i have orders to stop you40 8,very well1 do it60 8,i cannot10 he meekly mumbled1 as he rubbed aching bruises he had received in the encounter4 8,but10 he said1 8,i will follow your movements40 8,oh1 you can follow any movements you like1 but mind you do not come too near40 8,oh1 no1 no1 sahib60 he exclaimed4 ,the guard1 in fact1 followed us for some days--and always at a most respectful distance--until we got high up among the snows and glaciers4 ,then we lost sight of them4 ,anyhow1 ,i had no further annoyance all through my journey in ,nepal1 and found the few natives we saw quite attractive1 picturesque1 and kind4 ,after leaving the fort we travelled practically south-east over very rough country1 my objective being to visit and if possible climb one of the ,lumpa peaks which towers in a majestic needle above most other mountains in the neighbourhood4 ,every now and then1 when we got to some higher point of vantage1 we got a beautiful view of it4 ,my men--to my astonishment--received my plan with enthusiasm1 for they seemed to hold the snows in veneration4 ,little they then knew how much they would have to suffer upon them4 ,in that portion of ,north-,west ,nepal the population is sparse and somewhat mixed4 ,perhaps the finest and most interesting types ,i saw were the cross-breeds of ,shokas and ,nepalese1 which seemed to produce most striking heads4 ,one of the coloured drawings representing a typical ,nepalese-,shoka young man1 with temples shaved and long wavy hair hanging down his back1 is1 ,i think1 a good example4 ,these men had very fine traits about them1 were most hospitable and civil1 manly and serious in manner4 ,they were enterprising traders1 carrying on a brisk business mainly in borax1 salt1 wool1 and skins1 which they generally bartered with ,tibetans in exchange for grain1 ghur1 and other food stuffs4 ,it is rather interesting to note that whereas similar frontier tribes on neighbouring ,british soil are imposed upon1 taxed and ill-used by ,tibetans1 no interference at all is experienced by those living under the protection of the ,king of ,nepal4 ,possibly this is due to the fact that when ,nepalese subjects have been ill-used in ,tibet an armed expedition has been sent over the frontier by the ,nepalese1 and reparation demanded and obtained at once4 ,nepalese women are not unattractive1 having large brown eyes1 made additionally languid by blackening the lower lid1 long eyelashes and well-cut features1 skin of a well-polished1 smooth1 light-yellowish brown1 and most graceful hands and feet4 ,the better class are generally much decorated with heavy silver necklaces1 bracelets1 and rings1 and with huge nose-rings of gold1 brass1 or silver4 ,they are handsome while young1 but they fade away at an early age1 and the smooth skin becomes wrinkled and grooved long before they are thirty4 ,they are said to be most affectionate1 and of a somewhat jealous temperament1 which they couple with extreme conjugal fidelity4 ,in ,western ,nepal the hair is worn in many little plaits festooned on both sides of the forehead1 and a head-cover1 white1 yellow1 or red1 such as is seen in ,india among ,hindoo women1 is usually worn4 ,the women have comparative freedom1 and seldom are they seen completely veiled4 ,sati or suttee1 the widow's self-sacrifice by throwing herself upon the flames which have cremated her dead husband1 is now forbidden by law in ,nepal4 ,it is1 nevertheless1 indulged in to some extent in districts far away from the capital4 ,nepal is principally known to ,english people as the country from which1 by a special agreement1 we draw recruits for our ,gurkha regiments4 ,it should1 nevertheless1 be borne in mind that not all people living in ,nepal are by any means ,gurkhas--far from it4 ,we find in ,nepal a great variety of types--some pure enough1 others distinct mixtures of two or more races4 ,the ,gurkha district proper lies in the north-easterly portion of the ,gandak basin1 the chief city being ,gurkha1 some fifty-four or fifty-five miles to the west of the ,nepalese capital1 ,katmandu4 ,formerly ,nepal's sovereignty extended over ,kumaon1 which we have already traversed1 as far as the ,sutlej ,river4 ,the ,nepal kingdom1 as it stands now1 is an elongated tract of country--mostly mountainous--some #ejj miles in length1 and less than #aej miles in breadth at its widest points4 ,as everybody knows1 it is situated on the southern slopes of the central ,himahlyan range1 and borders with ,tibet on the north1 ,kumaon 7,north-,west ,provinces7 to the west1 the ,kali ,river1 as we know1 forming the boundary2 the ,north-,west ,province and ,bengal to the south1 and ,sikkim to the east4 ,nepal is divided into three natural zones by high ranges with peaks rising from #be1jjj to #bh1jjj feet1 these ridges shooting off southwards from the main ,himahlyan range4 ,the eastern zone is drained by the ,kosi ,river1 the central by the ,gandak1 and the ,western by the ,gogra4 ,to the above should be added what is called the ,terai and the thickly-populated ,nepal ,valley1 which1 geographically1 must be classed separately4 ,formerly ,nepal was divided into twenty-four principalities in addition to the ,gurkha kingdom1 but since the invasion by the latter of the entire country they have been divided into five provinces--viz4 ,gurkha1 ,malibam1 ,palpa1 ,pokra1 and ,khachi4 ,in the space at my disposal ,i cannot enter into the history nor go into a detailed description of the many tribes which inhabit ,nepal1 but generally speaking1 in the aboriginal stock a ,mongolian origin is evident1 particularly in the population of the central zone1 where recent ,tibetan influence is marked2 but this is not the case with the inhabitants of the lower region1 who seem to have descended partly from a mixture of an earlier ,tibetan and ,aryan source4 ,perhaps among the most prominent aboriginal tribes we should mention the ,magars1 ,gurungs1 ,newars1 ,sunwars1 the ,khambas or ,khambus1 and ,yakhas 7the latter two closely resembling ,rais71 the ,yakthumbas1 ,murmis1 and ,lepchas4 ,then in the forests of ,western ,nepal we find to this day wild tribes of ,chepangs and ,kasundas4 ,in the ,terai district live the ,tarus1 a servile and ill-shaped people of no great strength of character2 in the eastern zone we have ,limbus1 a name which practically includes ,kirantis1 ,ekas1 and ,rais--a people of apparently ,tibetan origin1 flat-faced1 beardless1 and with long unplaited hair1 who wear wide trousers and a short jacket instead of the long coat of the ,lepchas4 ,the central zone1 from which most of the recruits for the ,british ,gurkha regiments are drawn1 is inhabited by a small but strongly built1 warlike1 and plucky people1 the ,magars and ,gurungs1 the ,magars being in their turn subdivided into six distinct tribes1 of which the ,thapa tribe is the most numerous4 ,both the ,magars and the ,gurungs--who are somewhat taller and more stoutly built than the ,magars--although of marked ,mongolian characteristics1 are by religion ,brahmins1 but have no sort of strong caste prejudices such as one finds1 for instance1 in ,india4 ,gay and simple-minded1 with hearts of gold1 faithful and obstinate to an extreme degree1 independent in themselves yet loyal to their friends or employers1 fond of fighting and possessing the courage of lions1 these fellows make wonderful soldiers indeed4 ,perhaps in many ways they are not unlike the ,japanese1 both in appearance and temperament1 except that the physique of the ,gurkha is the superior of the two4 ,in the ,valley of ,nepal--or ,nepal proper--we find mostly ,newars and ,murmis4 ,the ,newars1 who claim to be the aborigines of the ,nepal ,valley1 are in many ways not unlike the ,bhotias or ,shokas1 and in many of their customs and in their habitations show a marked similarity to those tribes of ,mongolian descent4 ,their language resembles ,tibetan1 and their religion is a modified form of inherited ,buddhism4 ,the ,newars are much given to agricultural pursuits1 and they do not display so prominently the fighting qualities of the ,magars and ,gurungs4 ,on the contrary1 they seem to devote all their energy to art and trade1 of which they seem to have the entire monopoly in ,nepal4 ,the ,murmis resemble ,bhotias even more closely than the ,newars4 ,they are subdivided into two classes--the ,barathamang1 which is the most numerous1 and the ,atharajat4 ,katmandu1 the capital of ,nepal and residence of the ,king and ,government1 lies in this valley1 and is a city of great size and some beauty4 ,the ,terai is inhabited by a poor1 sickly-looking race called the ,tarus1 malarial fever being rampant in their district1 while wild beasts abound in the jungle4 ,they seem to be a poverty-stricken lot with a wretched physique--although endowed with astounding strength and powers of endurance4 ,they divide their time between fishing1 agriculture1 and hunting wild animals4 ,now comes the western zone1 which is entirely inhabited by non-,gurkha tribes1 such as the ,doti and ,jumli 7the ,doti's country being south of the ,jumli's71 as well as by wilder tribes1 such as the ,chepangs and ,kusundas1 the former being very similar to the ,raots or ,rajis of ,kumaon4 ,then there are minor ,hinduised tribes generically known as ,parbatiyas 7or hill men74 ,,chapter ,,vi ,the religion1 customs1 manners1 and fashions of dress of the various tribes composing the population of ,nepal vary to quite a considerable extent1 and ,i have here not the space to go into them fully4 ,but ,i will quote a few4 ,the ,brahmins differ little from their co-religionists of ,india1 except that they are not so strict in the observance of prejudices2 the form of ,buddhism practised closely resembles that of ,tibet4 ,superstitions are rampant1 both among ,brahmins and ,buddhists1 and of course even more so among the wilder tribes4 ,the ,gurkhas1 on the occasion of the birth of a child1 indulge in rejoicings for eleven consecutive days1 the father being restricted to the company of his relatives only4 ,on the eleventh day a name is given to the offspring4 ,the child is suckled by the mother for a comparatively short period of time1 when a festival and dinner are given1 the child being made to swallow a grain of rice from each friend4 ,marriages are1 as in ,india1 arranged at a very early age1 sometimes when children are not more than six or seven years old1 the betrothal taking place a year or two before4 ,widows cannot marry again1 but a widower can4 ,divorces can be obtained in some tribes1 by somewhat simple methods1 but fidelity is one of the chief virtues of ,nepalese women1 and it is seldom that separation takes place4 ,besides1 divorces are a very expensive luxury4 ,moreover1 an unfaithful wife may find herself in prison for life1 whereas the co-respondent is handed to the mercy of the husband1 who is expected to 8chop him up0 in public with his vicious-looking kukri4 ,they say that the offender's life may be spared if he submits to crawl under the husband's leg1 raised for the occasion1 a most humiliating alternative seldom accepted4 ,as in ,india1 among ,brahmin tribes1 a great many misdeeds of vanity or breaches of caste-rules are forgiven on payments in cash to the priests1 or the giving of the usual feast and feed4 ,the custom of shaving the head1 moustache1 and eyebrows in sign of mourning at the death of near relations is followed by the ,brahmin tribes1 and the body of the deceased is buried and not cremated4 ,several non-,brahmin tribes1 however1 cremate their dead4 ,the ,gurkhas who are recruited for the ,british army are nearly all ,magars and ,gurungs1 they being considered the best fighting material4 ,members of the ,khas tribe are enlisted solely for the #ith ,gurkha regiment4 ,recruiting parties are sent out from every regiment which recruits for itself1 and these bring down their recruits to the dpt at ,garakpur4 ,here a primary medical inspection takes place1 and clothing is issued to the men before they are despatched to their future corps4 ,they wear a dark green uniform with black or red facings1 and are armed with ,martini-,henry rifles1 a bayonet1 and a kukri4 ,the ,gurkha ,brigade consisted in #ahii of the #ast1 #bnd1 #crd1 #dth1 #eth1 #ith1 #dbnd1 #dcrd1 and #ddth ,regiments4 ,the first five regiments have two battalions2 the #ith1 #dbnd1 #dcrd1 #ddth are single battalions4 ,there are eight ,british officers to each battalion 7plus some others attached71 a medical officer1 and sixteen ,gurkha officers4 ,the men are1 as a rule1 excellent shots1 fond of sport of all kinds1 and passionate fishermen and shikaris1 knowing instinctively and intimately the habits of most animals4 ,they are hardy1 cheery1 and willing to obey1 but detest 8nagging40 ,they are devoted to their officers and proud of their corps2 and1 taking things all round1 possibly they may be put down as the most loyal native troops we have in ,india4 ,they know no fear4 ,if an orderly were by chance to leave an officer dead or wounded1 either in the field or out on a sporting expedition1 he would lose his caste1 be generally boycotted1 and very likely killed by his comrades4 ,the ,gurkhas are inveterate gamblers and fond of all games1 showing great quickness in learning ,british games1 at which they become quite proficient--football particularly4 ,they are superstitious beyond measure1 good or evil spirits playing an important part in every day's occurrences4 ,thus astrologers find plenty of remunerative occupation in predicting events and showing how to propitiate certain demons rather than others4 ,a curious feature of these fighters is their tender affection for flowers4 ,indeed1 there are many tender strings to the heart of a ,gurkha4 ,they are devoted to their families1 and most gentle and suave in their home manners4 ,they are jealous of their women1 whom they do not beat nor usually turn into beasts of burden like the natives of ,india1 and they show great pride in displaying their women-folks loaded with jewellery from head to foot4 ,the women are quite pretty1 cheery1 and do not exhibit the affected shyness of the women of the ,indian plains1 for instance4 ,one of the most notable features about a ,gurkha is the marvellous skill with which he handles his heavy-bladed kukri4 ,it may be said that from the days of his childhood1 since as soon as his little hands become strong enough to lift one1 he is never without one2 hence1 when older1 he is very adept in its manifold uses4 ,with one of those knives ,gurkhas can cut a buffalo's head off at one stroke2 and they can make fairly good shots1 at considerable distance1 when throwing the kukri4 ,they can use it in such delicate work as shaping a toothpick or sharpening a pencil4 ,with it they chop firewood1 and use it freely as a cooking utensil4 ,when going bear-hunting they wind a blanket round the left arm and carry a loaded stick in the right hand1 the kukri being held between the teeth or thrust in the girdle in front4 ,when the bear gets on his hind-legs to close with them1 they hit him on the nose 7being the tenderest spot71 and1 before he has time to recover from the pain and astonishment1 they polish him off with their knives4 ,they delight in the company of tame animals1 such as dogs or birds4 ,they are fond of smoking and drinking--and they can stand a lot--a fact which makes them great chums with ,british white soldiers4 ,they simply adore ,tommy ,atkins1 especially if he be a ,highlander or a rifleman1 and they delight in his company2 but they show the utmost contempt--racial and general--for the natives of ,india4 ,their unbounded conceit is easily forgiven and counterbalanced by their extreme truthfulness and honesty1 especially when first recruited4 ,many ,gurkha regiments have for some years taken up the system of training a few picked men of good physique and sight1 and of unusual agility and sporting instincts1 as recognised scouts4 ,they are clad more lightly than ordinary soldiers--generally in 8cut short0 football knickers4 ,besides the scouts' duty of discovering the enemy's strength and position1 they are also used as sharpshooters1 and specially instructed for stalking 8snipers0 at night4 ,when in ,india ,i had the pleasure of inspecting the scouts commanded by ,lieutenant ,g4 ,kendall ,channer1 of the #ast ,battalion #crd ,gurkhas1 and ,i was much impressed by them and by the business-like qualities of the officers and men4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,at the village of ,chongur in ,nepal ,i was able to purchase some extra blankets and shoes for my men1 as from this point we should soon come among the snows1 where we should remain for some time4 ,up to an altitude of #aa1jjj feet we travelled among firs1 and on very sharp1 slippery slopes without a trail4 ,on a bit of level pasture-land we came across two ,jumli annuals or shepherds with some sheep4 ,they were curious types1 wild and unkempt1 with shaggy hair flowing upon their face and shoulders4 ,i do not think that ,i have ever seen men more abruti--to use a ,french expression which fits them perfectly--than those two4 ,shivering from cold1 ill-clad1 living on roots and whatever they could pick up1 which was not much1 they were indeed the very picture of misery and wretchedness4 ,when they had recovered from their fright at our approach1 ,i gave them some food which would last them some time1 and their gratitude knew no bounds4 ,farther on we met a ,nepalese woman carrying a child slung in a basket upon her back1 while the husband walked peacefully behind4 ,when the camera was pointed at the couple they were so disturbed that the woman dropped basket and child and took to her heels down a most precipitous slope1 while her better half ran away from us1 also full speed1 but on a less dangerous route4 ,farther on1 as we got higher up1 we encountered more shepherds1 in as pitiable a condition as the first we had seen1 having nearly lost their power of speech through leading a lonely life among these mountains4 ,they all suffered from fever and rheumatism2 some from goitre through drinking snow water4 ,the marching was very heavy1 especially for my men who carried loads2 my pony1 of course1 had to be abandoned long before this1 and ,i had sent him down to lower elevations in charge of my sayce4 ,we were now nearing the magnificent ,api ,mountain1 and we soon came to the moraine of the glacier4 ,we reached the glacier--which ,i named the ,elfrida ,landor ,glacier--at sunset1 and it was indeed a most beautiful sight with its huge walls of clear ice in irregular terraces1 portions only being in broken-up heaps4 ,at the sides1 mud of a greyish colour and broken ice bordered the worn1 eroded rock down to the level of the valley where the glacier lies4 ,the glacier lies from ,n4,e4,e4 to ,s4,w4,w41 with two high peaks1 one to the ,n4,n4,w41 the other to the ,s4,s4,e41 the latter being known as the ,api ,mountain4 ,two snow-fed streams descend from the glacier1 and1 joining into a rapid torrent1 become a tributary of the ,lumpa ,river4 ,the natives call all these glaciers by the generic term ,sho-gal1 or 8snow glacier40 ,the village of ,chongur could be distinguished in the far distance to the ,n4,w4 of us1 down1 down below in the valley of the ,kali2 and to the ,n4,n4,w4 we obtained a panoramic view of the ,kuti ,river valley1 with the conical ,bitroegoar ,mountain and a high peak to the ,n4,n4,e4 ,even below #ac1jjj feet the vegetation had become very sparse1 but patches of short grass were found up to #af1jjj feet4 ,above that all was absolutely barren1 and generally covered with snow4 ,in the high valley we had followed1 whatever trees we found were weather-beaten and half-burnt by the snow and cold winds of the winter months4 ,for long distances we occasionally walked on thick beds of wild strawberries4 ,these high valleys are considered good pasture-land by the ,shokas1 who send their sheep for grazing in charge of annuals1 such as those we had met4 ,the foot of the glacier where we pitched our tent was at an elevation of #ac1ijj feet1 and the temperature shortly before sunset not higher than #cc ,fahrenheit4 ,perhaps to those who have never slept on the ice of a glacier it may be interesting to know what it feels like4 ,barring a certain chilliness which anybody can imagine1 a first night on a glacier has many surprises4 ,i say 8first night10 because we spent a great many1 and we got accustomed to the weird noises which kept us awake and in some suspense on the first visit4 ,indeed1 a ,himahlyan glacier seems to be the home of noises of all kinds4 ,the wind blowing among the pinnacles and recesses produces weird melodies like solos and immense choruses of human voices2 you can hear shrill whistling all round you when sharper blades of ice cut the current of air1 and roars like those of wild beasts1 only stronger1 when the wind penetrates into some deep cavity4 ,no sooner were you closing your eyes again for a much-wanted sleep than thunder1 so loud that it made you jump1 startled you1 but when you peeped out of the tent there were brilliant stars and a limpid sky everywhere above you4 ,sleepy as you were1 you could not resist--at least1 ,i could not1 and ,i am not much of a star-gazer--the temptation to gaze at the stars and planets4 ,in the rarefied and limpid air they showed like huge diamonds1 and gave quite enough light to see all round one1 even when there was no moon4 ,indeed1 no one who has never been to exceptionally high elevations has an idea of the beauty of stars4 ,they appear several times larger than they do when seen from ,london or ,paris1 for instance1 and the magnificence of their ever-changing colours is indescribable4 ,well1 there was poetry enough in that1 but you were soon awakened from your contemplation by some unexpected explosion which made you think the whole landscape before you must have been blown up4 ,but no1 there were no visible signs of commotion around4 ,it was merely a new crevasse1 some hundreds of feet deep1 splitting1 for some reason1 climatic or other1 in the ice4 ,constant rumblings you heard1 near and distant2 and you only had to close your eyes and you could imagine yourself in a forest with the wind rustling among the trees1 or the pleasant sound of a waterfall close by1 or an olian harp being played by a divine hand4 ,echoes1 of course1 there are by the dozen on mountains1 and each sound is repeated over and over again till it fades away4 ,an occasional boulder gets loose from the rotted rock up on the mountain side1 and is precipitated with bounding leaps on to the ice of the glacier2 a huge one weighing some tons came down that night and missed our tent by not very many yards4 ,my men said the spirits of the mountains were doing all this for our special benefit1 to see whether we were brave or not6 ,the big boulder they had flung at and purposely missed us to show us their powers1 but not to hurt us4 ,this was a good sign4 8,the gods are with us10 they stated2 but internally ,i heartily prayed that we might have no more 8good signs0 of that nature4 ,while ,i was trying to make some hot chocolate with a small spirit-stove1 my men were busy packing up1 they bearing the discomfort with some considerable pluck4 ,we had not been able to make a fire1 and we had not the prospect of seeing many for some weeks to come4 ,i always found chocolate the most useful and sustaining food for mountaineering purposes1 and ,i carried any number of tablets in my pockets4 ,on the march ,i constantly ate it2 food1 ,i found1 keeping one's strength up and being more easily digested under those circumstances1 if spread in small quantities over the entire day1 than if eaten in large quantities twice or three times a day at given hours4 ,i had my chocolate specially prepared with a percentage of meat and fat1 which gave it additional nourishment4 ,for days and days at a time ,i lived on chocolate only1 it being impossible to cook food1 and deeming it rather dangerous to eat tinned meats cold4 ,i was able to overcome the caste scruples of my men1 and they1 too1 partook freely of my chocolate1 although ,i never let them know that it contained beef4 ,had they known this1 most of them would have lost their caste4 ,they ate it because they believed it entirely prepared by machinery and not touched by unclean hands6 ,i was sorry when we struck camp and left behind the beautiful glacier and ,api ,mt41 #ai1iai feet4 ,we soon rose over a pass 7#ac1jej feet7 where we obtained a view of a second glacier1 almost as fine as the first1 in precipitous terraces1 and with a gigantic terminal moraine1 covered in great part by dbris and rotten rock1 fallen from the mountain at the side4 ,this ,i called the ,armida ,glacier4 ,it spread in a direction from ,n4,e4 to ,s4,w4 ,to the west of the glacier on the mountain side there was hardly any snow up to #af1jjj feet1 but to the east1 as one looked towards it1 there were huge masses4 ,the entire valley of the ,lumpa river along which we were travelling made part of a gigantic glacier1 with side glaciers such as those we have seen4 ,in the lower portion of the valley the ice was covered with dbris4 ,at the foot of the ,armida ,glacier were some immense parallel crevasses in the ice4 ,the upper portion of these was a mixture of dark grey mud and rock embedded in the ice1 showing vertical streaks and corrugations4 ,then there were some curious pits in the moraine1 such as the one shown in the illustration1 funnel-shaped and of great depth1 some #fj feet deep and more1 and about #ajj feet in diameter4 ,these funnels1 cone-shaped1 had a great fascination--quite an irresistible attraction--when one looked into them4 ,the ice1 of a beautiful light green colour1 was corrugated into grooves converging towards the centre at the bottom1 where a deep hole was generally to be found4 ,the ridges of the myriads of grooves reflected in a line of silver the rays of the sun1 and these many dazzling luminous streaks all converging towards one point had quite an hypnotic effect on some of my more highly strung men4 ,one man became quite giddy in looking down1 and very nearly went over1 and several other men experienced a strong desire to precipitate themselves into these pits4 ,i puzzled my head a great deal to find out exactly how these funnels were produced1 and the only plausible explanation seemed that some boulder fallen from the mountain side had1 owing to its sun-absorbed high temperature1 gradually bored a hole into the ice4 ,the walls of the cylindrical hole1 becoming in their turn exposed to the strong sunlight1 went through a process of melting1 the heat affecting the upper portion to a much greater extent than farther down1 where the strength of the sun's rays would be mitigated by the influence on the temperature of the air by the surrounding ice4 ,thus the quicker melting of the upper portion compared with the lower would at once have a tendency to produce the conical shape of the funnels4 ,then1 of course1 the grooves in the ice are produced by the water of the melting surface ice flowing down4 ,in fact1 in the daytime1 the lower centre hole1 which had vertical walls1 was almost invariably filled with water4 ,perhaps1 to avoid the absurd criticisms of fault-discovering critics 7which criticisms arise merely from their own appalling and fantastic ignorance71 it may be as well to remind the reader that the sun's rays1 even at very great elevations and among quantities of snow and ice1 can be very powerful--#he1 #ij1 and even more4 ,this particularly if the region in which one is travelling is1 as was that where we were1 in a latitude north of #cj #d #j only from the ,equator4 ,naturally1 the drop in the temperature when the sun disappears is enormous1 from #fj to #ajj being nothing very exceptional4 ,this also applies in a lesser degree between the sun and shade in the daytime4 ,when marching1 for instance1 due north or south in those regions1 it is not unusual to have one's anatomy roasting on the side where it is struck by the sun1 and to be half-frozen on the other side4 ,we continued our journey upon the moraine of the main glacier1 avoiding as much as we could the dangerous cracks and treacherous holes4 ,half-way up the main glacier we were at an altitude of #ac1fjj feet4 ,on descending some #djj feet we came to a plain wherein grew rhubarb and some turnips1 the former wild1 the latter planted by ,nepalese shepherds4 ,there were1 in fact1 three tiny shelters of stones and mud where the poor wretches had lived4 ,we were much rejoiced at finding some shrubs we could use as fuel4 ,the glacier we were leaving behind was separated from this valley by a high dune of mud and dbris4 ,after crossing a stream we came to a third1 the ,martia ,glacier1 some #ae1ejj feet above sea-level4 ,this glacier was not quite so impressive as the other two1 but it was1 nevertheless1 a most beautiful basin filled with masses of clear ice in irregular terraces4 ,a great moraine extended here across the valley from the glacier1 forming a ridge which we had to climb in order to proceed on our journey4 ,there seemed to be traces of iron in the dbris of the moraine as well as in the rocks of the mountains around1 and upon the gigantic boulders which had been shot down upon the ice4 ,on the opposite side of the ,lumpa stream to the one on which we stood1 just before reaching the third glacier1 were high vertical rocks of brilliant colouring4 ,to the south-east of the glacier at the foot was the usual dune1 and we again found a great many gigantic pits1 all with water at the bottom4 ,we came to a very dangerous crevasse which we could not cross1 and we had to make a considerable detour4 ,the edge on which we had got seemed on the point of giving way1 and might have collapsed at any moment4 ,where the surface ice was covered by dbris it showed graceful undulations and well-rounded mounds1 but occasionally there were higher hillocks of conical shape and quite pointed4 ,still travelling upon the moraine of the ,lumpa ,glacier we arrived at last at the spot where the ,lumpa river has its birth1 dripping gently from the glacier4 ,here1 too1 the ice with the overlying dbris showed in its general lines the peculiar sweeping curves noticeable in all these glaciers1 the section to the east being1 in this particular glacier1 an exception to the rule1 and exhibiting a disorderly mass of dbris and huge blocks of ice4 ,we had reached a point where a bifurcation occurred1 one arm of the glacier extending to #afj bearings magnetic 7,s4,s4,e471 the other and principal one to #abj bearings magnetic1 towards the ,lumpa ,mountain4 ,we selected this spot to make our camp1 and a very cold camp it was1 too4 ,we pitched our tent alongside a big rock1 and with fuel we had brought up1 tried1 after sundown1 to make a fire inside the tent in order to keep ourselves warm4 ,but we were nearly suffocated by the smoke4 ,during the night1 while my men were asleep--and the fire gone out--,i changed the plates in three magazine cameras1 forty-eight plates altogether2 a job which with semi-frozen and trembling fingers1 and careful packing of negatives already exposed1 took me the best part of two hours4 ,indeed1 one of the great tortures of exploration in cold climates1 is the immense care with which one must nurse one's surveying and other instruments under most adverse circumstances1 and the inexpressible trouble which photography1 if done seriously1 involves4 ,for similar kind of work ,i always found plates infinitely more reliable than films2 but1 of course1 with them the use of a red lantern becomes imperative1 and often leads to the use of a good deal of bad language4 ,if you adopt an oil-lantern the oil gets frozen into a solid mass1 and it is somewhat troublesome to keep the lantern burning1 whereas candles have other disadvantages4 ,as for feeling the film side with your fingers1 and changing plates in the dark1 it is1 of course1 out of the question when your hands are too cold4 ,maybe another hint when mountaineering at great altitudes will be useful to you4 ,never use a waterproof sleeping-bag1 such as those you see advertised and recommended1 as the very thing you want on a mountain4 ,if you do1 and the night is a cold one1 you will find yourself and your blankets soaked in condensed moisture from the heat of your body coming in contact with the cold waterproof sheet1 through which it is unable to escape4 ,of course it is wise to use a waterproof sheet to lie on under one's blankets4 ,on that particular night1 feeling extra cold and not thinking of consequences1 ,i wrapped myself up1 over my blankets1 in a waterproof4 ,the results were disastrous4 ,everything got drenched1 and1 when ,i got up1 blankets and clothes became solid sheets of ice6 ,,chapter ,,viii ,having seen that all my instruments were in good condition1 ,i selected about a dozen of my strongest men to accompany me on my ascent on one of the ,lumpa peaks4 ,it had been sleeting and snowing during the night1 and when ,i roused my men shortly before five in the morning there was a thick mist which seemed to penetrate to the very marrow of one's bones4 ,with chattering teeth and a chilly nose1 we got all things ready1 and brewed a parting cup of hot tea1 after which we set out on our errand1 the other men remaining to take care of the camp4 ,every now and then the wind cleared the mist1 and we could see a bright1 clear sky above us which gave us hope that we might have a fine day4 ,i am not a believer in early rising2 as a rule eight or nine o'clock is my favourite hour for starting on a march1 when the sun is already high above the horizon4 ,you then start off in comfort1 instead of waking with an angry feeling that you are being done out of some hours' sleep4 ,on this occasion1 however1 we had such a long distance to cover1 and in all probability troublesome and dangerous marching before us1 that ,i wished to have as many hours of daylight before me as possible4 ,no sooner had we started1 following the main glacier in a direction of #abj1 than a thick fog set in which made progress somewhat troublesome4 ,it seemed to get thicker and thicker as we were rising higher upon the glacier4 ,we had to find our way among numerous pits and crevasses4 ,we kept as close together as was practicable1 but we were not roped together4 ,it has ever been my rule when mountaineering that every man must look after himself4 ,i take all sensible precautions to avoid all accidents1 and collective accidents in particular4 ,if there has to be a mishap1 which is not likely1 and some unfortunate man slips into a crevasse1 do not let him by any means drag down the whole party1 as is frequently the case when roped together4 ,besides1 the rope in itself is a great hindrance to one's progress1 and on very rough marching exhausts much of the traveller's strength1 being either too tight or too slack1 and always getting in the way when it should not4 ,we tramped along as best we could over a great many transverse waves of ice1 covered here and there with dbris--most fatiguing work4 ,in the first portion of the main glacier1 on which we were1 and which lay from ,w4 to ,e41 the transverse waves followed a parallel direction of ,n4,w4 to ,s4,e4 until we reached an altitude of #ae1jjj feet with a temperature of #db2 but in the upper part of the glacier1 which lay from ,n4,w4 to ,s4,e41 these parallel waves lay in a direction of from ,s4 ,w4 to ,n4,e4 ,in the higher portion of the glacier1 #ae1djj feet above sea-level1 we came to a regular maze of huge pits in close succession1 and we were glad when the sun shone brightly on us and little by little dispelled the fog1 so that we could see what we might expect ahead of us4 ,on our left we had precipitous mountains of grey rock2 on our right somewhat gentler slopes1 mostly covered with snow4 ,we at last reached the crescent-shaped ,lumpa basin1 walled all round with two higher peaks joined by a semicircular high barrier of snow-clad rock4 ,we were particularly fortunate as we approached4 ,the mist lifted like the curtain of a theatre and unexpectedly disclosed a magnificent view before us1 brilliantly illuminated by the light of the sun4 ,i was lucky enough to obtain several excellent photographs and sketches1 one giving a panoramic view of the scene being reproduced in this book4 ,i possess some negatives taken on that occasion that are of particular interest1 as showing the idiocy of certain people who maintain that clouds do not form above an altitude of #bj1jjj feet4 ,the very fact that you find snow up to the summits at ,nanda ,devi 7#be1ffj feet71 and ,mt4 ,everest 7#bi1jjj feet71 might1 ,i think1 be sufficient proof to the contrary to any one except possibly a ,royal geographer2 but in my negatives the clouds themselves show as they were forming on the summit of one of the ,lumpa peaks1 which has an elevation of #bc1dij feet4 ,a few negatives of lesser importance were injured owing to a most uncommon occurrence4 ,in my magazine camera the plate-holders were of metal1 and slid one on the top of the other when being changed for exposure4 ,owing to the dryness of the atmosphere the friction of metal on metal produced an electric spark inside the camera1 which marked some of the plates across like a streak of lightning1 and somewhat fogged them4 ,of course1 ,i only discovered this on developing them4 ,my object in making the ascent of this high peak was not so much for the sake of getting there as for the purpose of making some observations on the effects of great altitudes upon human beings1 a subject in which ,i was then rather interested4 ,we continued climbing upon the glacier until we came to a big stretch broken into huge and tortuous crevasses of immense depth4 ,when you stooped over the edge and looked down1 the ice-walls on either side showed most beautiful tints1 from intense blue at the bottom fading in most delicious tones to pale green and to the pure white of the surface snow4 ,these crevasses were very wide in some places1 but here and there they were close together1 and we could easily jump across4 ,we then left the glacier1 and proceeded climbing along the mountain side to our right1 upon extensive snow-fields4 ,the first portion of the ascent was in no way difficult1 and we proceeded quickly enough considering the great elevation4 ,but on reaching #bj1jjj feet some of my men were taken with mountain sickness1 and they had great difficulty in keeping up with us4 ,they bled considerably from the nose1 and were eventually seized with such violent pains that we had to leave them behind--to be picked up on our return4 ,out of twelve men only four were still in good condition1 and having seen to the comfort of the sick men we left them1 wrapped up in their blankets1 in a sheltered hollow upon the mountain side4 ,we next came to a patch of very troublesome loose dbris1 so steep that even snow would not stop on it1 and we sweated and sweated for some time trying to get on4 ,every time you took a step you started a mass of dbris1 sliding with a great roar down the mountain side1 and you went sliding back yourself almost to where you had moved from4 ,when we managed to get higher we were among bigger rocks1 also quite loose1 and it seemed as if the sound of one's voice was sufficient to start dozens of them on a bounding race for lower elevations4 ,we were resting for a while when a lot of these stones came rolling and bounding towards us with great force1 and on the loose stuff upon which we stood it was impossible to get out of the way quickly4 ,one big rock particularly came bounding down in such an erratic fashion that we saw its approach with some concern4 ,one of my men1 in whose direction it seemed bound1 shouted for help and tried to get aside1 but he was hit with great vehemence in his legs and sent flying some feet into the air4 ,he was much shaken and bruised1 but after some rubbing and thumping he was able to continue4 ,when we were about to leave the dbris we witnessed a most attractive sight--a sight which1 nevertheless1 caused me considerable anxiety for some minutes4 ,it was the birth of an avalanche4 ,some snow having got loose higher up upon the mountain1 it began rolling down in little balls1 thousands of them1 which got bigger and bigger as you were looking at them1 owing to the snow they collected on their precipitate career4 ,the avalanche passed in a furrow only a few yards from us1 affording a magnificent view2 but this furrow1 unhappily1 led to the very spot where ,i had left my sick men1 down1 down below1 and we could see them1 as big as ants1 lying wrapped in their red blankets on the white snow1 unconscious of the approaching danger4 ,the myriad of snowballs1 which were no bigger than ping-pong balls when they started1 were as big as decent-sized buildings when they had gone some hundreds of yards1 and when two of them clashed in their descent it seemed like an explosion of a mine1 the scattered snow in powdered form being thrown up to a great height and looking not unlike smoke4 ,the hollow1 whirling sound as the avalanche whizzed past was quite impressive1 and ,i must confess that ,i was never so relieved as when ,i saw it just miss my invalided men down below1 and end its run with a great clash upon the glacier at the bottom4 ,it seemed like heavy thunder when it struck1 which was echoed for some minutes in the mountains all round and down the passage through which we had approached the glacier4 ,when we reached the crest of the range we came to a difficult passage where the rock1 just like the blade of a knife1 was so sharp and its sides so steep that even the snow would not remain on it4 ,we had to get across somehow1 and the only way to do it was to balance oneself on the top of it--less than a foot wide--or1 if one's head was not steady enough1 proceed astride of it4 ,it was only a few feet long1 but the drop1 had one fallen1 was several thousand feet on either side4 ,apart from the fact that it was so high1 there was no real difficulty in getting across1 and1 panting and blowing1 stopping every few feet for breath1 we proceeded higher and higher4 ,my men were suffering considerably1 their hearts beating in a most irregular fashion with occasional violent throbs1 which caused me much anxiety4 ,these throbs1 when they occurred1 caused such sudden exhaustion that the men fell down half-fainting1 and it took some minutes to revive them and bring them further4 ,they were1 however1 most plucky1 and struggled like men1 uncomplainingly4 ,they never once asked to give in and go back4 ,from an altitude of about #bb1jjj feet their sufferings took a somewhat acute form1 nausea and profuse bleeding from the nose causing them much inconvenience4 ,they complained of intense pains and abnormal pressure in the centre of the chest as well as along the fissures in the skull1 particularly where the skull is thinner on the top at the point of junction1 and at the temples2 also of a severe pressure low in the back of the skull4 ,they were much worried over the maddening buzzing caused by the rarefied air1 which they heard and could not explain4 ,they attributed it to something having got inside their ears4 ,their hearing was temporarily affected when we got higher still1 and they experienced difficulty in hearing me speak at all4 ,when we had got to #bc1jjj feet1 my nose1 too1 bled like a fountain1 and ,i could not stop the flow1 but1 contrary to my expectation1 it seemed to cause me relief rather than discomfort4 ,i could breathe more freely1 and my heart did not beat in such a reckless manner as before4 ,it caused me a slight pain and pressure on the top of the skull1 but nowhere else4 ,of course the exhaustion was indescribable4 ,it was all one could do to go four or five yards at a time1 although the ascent after a certain point was in no way difficult1 because on looking at the mountain ,i had instinctively chosen the easiest way to go up4 ,one panted so convulsively and the heart beat so hard and quick that it rather made one reflect4 ,possibly the most trying consequence of travelling so high up was the weight which one's limbs seemed to assume4 ,one hardly had the strength to lift them up4 ,the effort of moving one's legs in succession three or four times exhausted one temporarily as much as if one had walked thirty miles under ordinary circumstances4 ,well1 on we struggled1 with an occasional grin at our plight4 ,the last few hundred feet of our ascent were indeed hard work4 ,one of my men1 the strongest-looking lad in my party1 who had been panting most terribly and gasping for breath1 unluckily burst a blood-vessel when we were within a few feet of the top4 ,he was in intense pain4 ,we screened him in a sheltered nook4 ,he suffered very much1 poor fellow1 and although on our return we brought him down again1 he eventually died4 ,at last we reached the summit--#bc1dij feet 7measured by me with the hypsometrical apparatus with three different boiling-point thermometers checked at the ,kew ,observatory before my departure and after my return4 ,two excellent aneroids which ,i also carried gave a similar figure within a few feet74 ,the day was a beautifully clear one up there1 but down below there was much mist and many clouds1 which took away a good deal from the beauty of the panorama4 ,there were1 however1 a great many high snowy peaks towering above the mist like majestic white islands rising out of the sea of clouds4 ,the view was soon almost entirely obscured by clouds1 and with the exception of ,api ,mt41 to the ,n4,n4,w41 another peak1 #bj1bhj feet1 in ,nepal1 peeping through to the ,n4,e4 of us1 one of the ,lumpa group and other mountains close by1 we could see very little4 ,the peak on which we were was in a steep gradient on the side on which we had climbed1 but was most precipitous on the other side4 ,in fact1 it was almost vertical right down to the glacier at its foot1 some #fejj feet below4 ,it looked as if one half of the mountain had at some remote period collapsed1 leaving the sharp-edged peak standing4 ,there was not as much snow on the top as lower down1 as the wind blows a good deal of the surface snow away1 some melts with the heat of the sun1 and the slope of the mountain1 even on the side we had climbed1 being somewhat steep1 whenever sufficient snow had accumulated on the top its weight caused it to slide down in avalanches4 ,even the day ,i went up we counted some five or six avalanches in various parts of the mountain1 but none came quite so near as the first ,i described4 ,the rock was exposed in one or two places1 and was so rotted that with our fingers we could remove large slabs4 ,when we had taken a good rest1 which restored us wonderfully--as soon as you sat down and did nothing you felt well and relatively happy1 except the lungs1 which seemed not to work quite so regularly--we took advantage of the rock at hand to construct a cairn on the summit4 ,after having inscribed the names of my men and my own on a stone and on a piece of paper1 we placed them in a receptacle on the south side of the cairn and built them up all round and above1 so that they might be preserved as long as possible4 ,i then proceeded to take all the necessary observations--not1 however1 before having devoured two whole pounds of chocolate1 which ,i ate with some snow to allay my thirst as well as my appetite4 ,i had been consuming on that ascent a great many lozenges of highly concentrated meat1--each one was supposed to be as good as a meal1--and ,i ate at least fifty in the space of eight hours and a half4 ,i suppose they were sustaining1 but you had to eat lots of them for one lozenge to sustain the previous one1 or they left an awful feeling of emptiness in one's inside4 ,an empty inside1 ,i firmly believe1 is a mistake for reaching high elevations1 or at any other time1 so ,i had started with my pockets full of chocolate1 and what the lozenges could not do the huge chunks of chocolate ,i chewed all the way up the mountain certainly accomplished4 ,i think it was partly due to the constant nourishment ,i took all the way up that ,i was able to break the world's record in mountaineering1 going several hundred feet higher than other mountaineers1 with comparative ease4 ,had the peak which we climbed been higher1 ,i could have gone even higher and reached a considerably greater elevation4 ,but perhaps ,nature gave me quite an abnormal constitution for work of that kind1 as people who know me can testify4 ,it is interesting to note that the strongest and most athletic-looking man in my party on that particular expedition was the only one who broke down badly and died2 and the weakest1 smallest-framed--almost girlish in appearance1 he looked so delicate--was the only one out of all the followers ,i had employed who throughout stood the hardships and sufferings without a flinch1 showed the greatest endurance1 and eventually returned home in excellent condition4 ,perhaps ,i should also mention that neither myself nor any of the men who came up with me wore hobnailed boots in making the ascent1 ,i wearing some comparatively light boots of medium weight such as ,i would wear in ,london on a wet day4 ,in the way of clothing1 too1 ,i made no difference between going up on a world's record-breaking expedition and taking a stroll down ,piccadilly4 ,i mean that ,i wore my ,piccadilly clothes up there--clothes of the thinnest tropical material1 no underclothing to speak of1 a straw hat1 and a small bamboo stick in my hand4 ,it has always been my practice to simplify everything4 ,one cannot get away from the fact that the simpler you are in everything you do the better1 and with mountaineering particularly1 the less you carry1 the less muffled up you are1 the freer in your movements1 the more you will accomplish4 ,that is to say1 if your constitution is so made that you can stand it4 ,i cannot get away from the fact that one can do no better than wear such comfortable clothes as one is generally in the habit of wearing1 and ,i could never understand the object of parading in clumsy tweeds strapped all over1 when you need your movements as little impeded as possible4 ,i will refer you to one of the coloured plates1 copied from a photograph taken at an altitude of some #bj1jjj feet on ,lumpa by one of my men before we left them on the mountain side4 ,the picture shows the author and the four men who accompanied him to the summit of the mountain4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,we must go back a while in the narrative4 ,on having reached the summit and delivered themselves of the instruments1 cameras1 etc41 which they carried1 the men immediately threw themselves down and fell fast asleep1 breathing heavily and quite exhausted4 ,i let them rest awhile before taking observations upon them4 ,when ,i woke them up one by one they did not respond very quickly1--as they usually did1--but seemed to remain for some minutes semi-unconscious1 as if they had been under the influence of a narcotic4 ,this was undoubtedly caused by the rarefied air4 ,on the ascent above #bj1jjj feet ,i had noticed how profuse the salivation had been with my men2 the saliva glands being most active when the men underwent exertion1 but not so much now that they were stationary4 ,curiously enough1 one of the four men who suffered least during the ascent and when up there on the summit was a fellow--a ,rajiput by caste--who had never been on a snow mountain in his life4 ,his determined enthusiasm1 ,i think1 and strong will helped him to no mean extent4 ,i am unable to give the men's names here1 lest ,i should expose them to further persecution from the ,government of ,india1 but we will call them ,a1 ,b1 ,c1 ,d4 ,a1 #de years of age1 after a good rest1 had a fairly regular heart-beat1 but very fast4 ,he felt quite ill1 and complained of a severe pressure at the temples and the top of the head4 ,every two minutes or so his lungs and heart showed some convulsive movements2 also abnormal movements were noticeable in the centre of the chest4 ,his pulse registered #aje beats a minute1 and was extremely faint1 while his temperature was #ajb4 ,this was the man who broke a blood-vessel4 ,b1 a ,shoka1 #ej years old1 and who had constantly lived at great elevations1 had a stronger pulse1 #hj pulsations per minute1 with a temperature of #ajjb4 ,his forehead was burning1 and he had a strong buzzing in his ears4 ,pain and convulsive movements in the lungs1 and also in the centre of chest1 every few breaths4 ,c1 a powerfully-built ,shoka1 felt abnormal weakness1 although his pulse was only #gh1 quite regular1 but so faint that one could hardly feel it4 ,the heart1 too1 beat quite feebly but regularly enough1 when not exerting himself4 ,he had bled considerably on the ascent4 ,his temperature was #ih4 ,his ears were buzzing1 and he suffered from tormenting pressure in the temples1 top and back of skull4 ,d1 the ,rajiput1 astonished me very much4 ,he only had #gf pulsations1 very steady and strong1 although he had bled profusely2 his heart beat violently and throbbed alarmingly every few moments4 ,his respiration was regular1 but slightly quicker than normal4 ,he complained of great heat in the head4 ,his forehead was burning2 his temples1 he said1 seemed as if they were being crushed in a claw of iron1 and as if his skull would split4 ,he suffered from great pressure in the tenderest spot on the top of his skull and also behind the head4 ,his temperature was #ajjb4 ,all complained of great heaviness in the legs and arms1 of dryness of the skin1 particularly at the forehead and lips1 and unquenchable thirst4 ,the pupils of the eyes were in all cases abnormally contracted1 although the light was not strong at the time of examination4 ,i was impressed by the distinctness with which sounds travelled2 voices sounding extraordinarily clear1 quite crystalline1 and if loud and near producing quite a sharp and uncomfortable impression upon the tympanum of one's ears1 notwithstanding that the rarefied air caused the sensation of having my ears stopped with cotton-wool4 ,after half-an-hour's rest the observations upon myself were as follows3--#abj pulsations per minute1 and heart beating at a similar rate1 rather stronger than usual1 but quite regular4 ,temperature under tongue #iic4 ,the forehead1 unlike my men's1 quite cool but feeling very dry1 and there remained a slight pressure along the fissures at the side of the skull4 ,both with me and with all my men the temperature of the body around the heart was greatly increased1 and we all suffered from an insatiable thirst4 ,we constantly filled our mouths with snow and melted it in order to appease the uncomfortable feeling1 but in a moment the palate and throat felt quite dry1 although1 as ,i have stated1 salivation was profuse1 especially while eating or taking exertion4 ,while my men were busy constructing the cairn ,i did a very foolish thing4 ,from our pinnacle down to the glacier below in a vertical line was a drop of some #fejj feet1 and for some reason or other ,i took it into my head to go and sit on the edge and dangle my legs over the precipice4 ,you see1 one does not always have an opportunity of having so much room to dangle one's legs and feet in6 ,in order to avoid accidents ,i knocked off some of the surface snow and then1 helped by one of my men--who entered fully into the humour of the situation--,i sat myself down4 ,i was gaily kicking my feet about1 when my man shouted that the ice and rock were giving way from under me4 ,before ,i had time to get up from my unpleasant position the fellow had pluck and sense enough to try and reach over1 seizing me firmly by the wrist1 and as the rock and ice and snow went from under1 not only were my legs dangling over the precipice1 but my whole body was suspended in mid-air4 ,it seems that in his efforts to save me ,i might have dragged the man down as well1 had it not been for the presence of mind of a third fellow who interrupted the construction of our cairn and seized my saviour by the legs4 ,after some dangling about--which seemed to last a very long time--they eventually pulled me up4 ,now1 had those men been ,english or ,scotch or ,irish or ,french1 this incident might have supplied them with some excitement and a topic of conversation for some time4 ,but no2 the man ,b1 who had caught me in the first instance1 felt with his foot a spot where the snow seemed firm enough1 and he placidly remarked3 8,sit down here1 ,sahib1 this will not give way10 and he sat himself down as if nothing had happened1 while the man ,c resumed the construction of the cairn without any comment4 ,my heart thumped a good deal from the sudden jerk--not to speak of the prospect of the unexpected flight--but on feeling myself all over and finding that ,i had not lost anything from my pockets1 nor my straw hat1 ,i soon felt quite happy again4 ,a glance at the two sketches illustrating this incident will1 ,i think1 give a clearer idea of the situation than the description4 ,we remained about an hour on our lofty pinnacle1 the temperature in the sun being #gj1 and then we made our way down4 ,holding one another by the hand we slid down the steep incline at a precipitous pace4 ,the distance which had taken us hours of toiling and panting in our ascent1 only took us a very short time in the descent4 ,a thick mist was coming on and my men were most anxious to get down quick4 ,we were sliding down at a terrific rate1 using our feet as brakes to control the velocity when it got too dangerous4 ,we eventually found ourselves again on the loose dbris and here1 too1 we went down several yards at each step1 carrying down with us a mass of loose stones--a regular land-slide--which rolled right down to the bottom with tremendous fracas4 ,as we got lower1 we all felt notable relief in breathing1 and we halted for a few minutes to pick up the men we had left below4 ,they had obtained a good rest1 and were feeling better4 ,we gave a parting look to the magnificent glacier--which ,i named the ,charles ,landor1 after my father--and its stupendous irregular terraces of clear ice rising vertically over #ajjj feet in height4 ,the terraces were undulating on their summit1 and showed a tendency to precipitate towards the southern side4 ,on our return we followed a simpler plan4 ,the tail of the glacier showed three high ridges of ice1 covered farther down with dbris1 these ridges--two lateral and a central one--running practically parallel to each other and being formed by the forcing up of the ice at the sides and in the centre4 ,also1 the snow precipitated from the sides of the mountains would tend to increase their height--while the heat of the mountain rock would cause the snow in its immediate neighbourhood to melt1 and thus leave a channel clear between the mountain itself and the dunes thus formed4 ,as there was some snow on the summit of these dunes one got a fair grip with one's feet2 and walking upon their summit involved no great difficulty1 except that when one had balanced oneself upon them for long distances one occasionally felt a little giddy4 ,this was1 nevertheless1 a great improvement upon walking down below among the crevasses1 holes1 and pools1 as we had done in the morning1 and saved us no end of time and exertion4 ,true enough1 if we had slipped we might have shot down with some force into a crevasse with little hope of coming out alive1 but we must not slip1 that was all4 ,as each of us had to look after himself1 we were mighty careful where and how we put our feet4 ,the central ridge here1 as in most other glaciers1 was usually higher and sharper-edged than the lateral ones1 and had also a more uneven summit1 rather like the conventional wave pattern1 inverted arcs of a circle coming in contact and forming pointed summits4 ,we travelled on the ridge to our left on leaving the glacier4 ,at six o'clock in the evening we again reached camp--oh1 how glad we were6--having been on the go steadily for thirteen hours1 during which time we had covered sixteen miles4 ,this was not at all bad1 at such elevations and on such difficult ground4 ,of course1 most of that distance was between the camp and the glacier at the foot of the ,lumpa basin2 the actual distance from the glacier to the summit1 although occupying the greater portion of the time1 being comparatively small4 ,there were great rejoicings in camp that night1 and they took the form of an elaborate--but only half-cooked--meal1 our fuel giving out in the middle of the cooking4 ,you see1 at high elevations water takes such a long time to boil2 in fact1 it boils without being hot4 ,at that particular camp it boiled at #ahgc--;and cooking took an interminable time4 ,with a display before me--and it did not remain a display very long--of tepid ,bovril soup1 sardines1 army ration stew 7semi-stewed71 corned beef1 tinned plum pudding 7,lord6 it felt heavy even up there671 and a warmish mug of chocolate--,i felt as happy again--in fact1 happier than a king6 ,,chapter ,x ,we made a very early start again the following morning1 as ,i had the intention of crossing the range to the north of us and exploring some of the virgin glaciers of the ,tinker region and in ,tibet4 ,the mountains were1 however1 so precipitous that we had some difficulty in finding a spot where we could climb up and take our loads as well4 ,we again proceeded upward towards the ,charles ,landor ,glacier1 but kept on the dune to the left 7going up7 instead of on the one we had taken coming down the previous night4 ,again we passed along huge cracks in the ice1 and here and there more holes in the ice--relieving somewhat the monotony of the grey dbris that covered that tail portion of the glacier4 ,again we got another distant glimpse of the majestic glacier itself towering in front of us with its gigantic ice-terraces4 ,perhaps the reason that these terraces droop towards the southern side may be attributed to the heat of the sun shining upon the ice of that side for more hours than on the north side1 as the high wall enclosing the basin on the east side casts a shadow upon the glacier until the sun is well up in the sky4 ,somehow or other the dune we were on was not as regular as the one of the previous night1 and the dbris which covered it was very loose and slippery4 ,it often crumbled under us1 so that we thought we had better march in the deep channel between the mountain side and the dune4 ,here1 too1 we had to feel our way with great caution1 as the ground was treacherous1 with cracks in the ice bridged over with snow and dbris4 ,this seemed a great day for landslides4 ,at every moment we heard crashing noises of masses of dbris being precipitated upon the glacier1 and some of them were quite near enough for us to see4 ,the range to the north of us seemed so uninterrupted and so steep everywhere1 with a base of rotten dbris1 and high vertical rocks at the summit1 that we were quite puzzled to find a spot where we could cross it4 ,i had noticed a likely--but difficult--place the day before1 and it was1 indeed1 the only accessible way up4 ,we there left the glacier and began a stiff climb on the loose dbris1 my men experiencing much difficulty in conveying their loads up4 ,every few hundred feet they had to lie down for some minutes to rest4 ,although the fatigue was really for them overpowering1 they took matters in the right spirit1 and instead of grumbling they laughed heartily at the difficulty of breathing1 and the thumping and throbbing of the heart4 ,we eventually got away from the lower dbris and proceeded among large slabs of rock1 most slippery and troublesome1 and as sharp as knives1 our feet getting constantly jammed between them4 ,at last we came before a wall of rock1 at such a steep angle that it looked almost perpendicular1 with cracks and fissures in it1 and on this we had to climb1 clinging with all our might with fingers and toes4 ,this part of the ascent was quite dangerous1 for1 had we slipped1 it meant certain death4 ,the rock was so cold that one's fingers got semi-frozen2 and we felt much relieved when every now and then we found a hollow or crack1 or projection1 allowing sufficient room to sit down and rest1 our legs swinging over the abyss down below4 ,the bringing up the loads gave us no end of trouble1 and it was a pleasure to see how thoughtful and helpful my men were to one another4 ,we eventually got to a spot where we could go neither up nor down1 as some of the rock gave way2 and it was with some trepidation that we watched one of my ,shokas make steps in the rotten rock while clinging with one hand and his toes apparently to nothing4 ,this took a long time1 and this difficulty being overcome and a way made1 we climbed and climbed on all fours until we reached the pass4 ,we heartily named it there and then the 8,savage ,pass40 ,we took a long rest on the summit1 and erected two large cairns with our names in them4 ,we obtained a most stupendous view of the glacier we had left behind uncoiling itself several hundred feet below us4 ,it looked very nasty1 with its huge cracks and crevasses1 and the three dunes all along it1 like huge serpents uncoiling themselves4 ,we had hardly time to admire the scenery before we were enveloped in thick mist1 to the north of us particularly1 the entire landscape being hidden from us4 ,a few moments later it began to snow4 ,water boiled as low as #ahb1 while the temperature of the air was #ea1 the altitude in feet being #ag1cca4 ,whether because of the reaction after the hard work of getting up there1 or because of the sudden cold and depression in the atmosphere1 due to the coming storm1 a number of my men were taken violently ill with mountain sickness4 ,they wrapped themselves in their blankets1 and said they were dying and could not move4 ,after a good deal of persuasion1 and some shaking--which is always a good remedy for most complaints--we made a start4 ,on the other side of the range we were confronted with very much the same sort of ground as what we had found coming up4 ,first now came a wall-like rock precipice to descend--much more difficult always than to ascend2 and then the snow falling fast prevented our seeing many feet ahead of us1 besides making our hands1 ears1 and nose unpleasantly cold4 ,we clung to those rocks and went carefully down1 the rock being so rotted that it frequently gave way4 ,in some hours' work we were able to take all the baggage1 partly by passing it down with ropes from one man to another1 stationed at various heights upon the rocky wall4 ,even ourselves had to be let down one by one with ropes in many places where the rock was so smooth and vertical that it was impossible to cling to it2 but otherwise we were not roped together1 the ropes used being merely those for slinging the loads on the men's backs4 ,there rose a cutting wind1 which made matters even more unpleasant1 and drove the sleet and snow with great force into our faces4 ,when the difficult part of the descent was over1 and we gradually got lower down1 the weather cleared somewhat1 and we obtained a good view of the scenery to the north4 ,the vertical rock we had descended measured #fjj feet in height4 ,a magnificent undulating sea of clouds lay before us1 screening the lower section of the valley2 then three distinct glaciers showed themselves to the north of us1 in terraces like gigantic stairways1 but with their base hidden in the mist1 and barren1 desolate1 snow-capped mountains rising above them4 ,then two more glaciers appeared4 ,above the most northerly of the three glaciers rose a peak #bj1bgi feet high4 ,as a matter of fact1 when the mist cleared up a little more1 we discovered that these five glaciers were only the ramifications of one huge glacier1 but they were distinctly separated in their upper portion by ridges4 ,a sea of clouds is always an interesting sight1 annoying as it is1 at the time1 when it screens the scenery one would like to see4 ,in fact1 the formation of clouds upon mountains is altogether an engrossing subject to an observant traveller4 ,the clouds at elevations above the perpetual snow-line 7about #af1jjj in the ,himahlyas7 have a more feathery appearance than those formed below1 and the higher the elevation the more feathery and light they seem to be4 ,on the snow-line itself one generally saw clouds1 chiefly of a globular character1 and in such close succession as to form long horizontal streaks4 ,this was particularly noticeable at sunrise and at sunset4 ,during the night1 except in case of storms1 clouds formed less profusely1 and1 when they did1 disappeared quicker than in the daytime4 ,just before sunrise1 however1 when the atmosphere was gradually getting warmer1 at elevations from #ac1jjj to #af1jjj feet1 mists were constant1 which eventually dispersed when the sun was high on the horizon4 ,towards sunset and soon afterwards they generally recurred again1 but the nights were usually very clear4 ,in that particular expedition1 being always at very high elevations1 ,i had an opportunity of seeing many phenomena of curious interest and beauty4 ,one afternoon when ,i had climbed with two men on a small peak to reconnoitre the country around1 we were confronted by a sea of mist down below4 ,the sun was rather low behind us1 and it projected our shadows1 well defined but in an elongated form of some hundreds of feet1 on the sheet of pure white mist beyond4 ,it had quite a weird effect1 when we were gesticulating1 to see our movements magnified in the shadows to such gigantic proportions4 ,another beautiful effect ,i observed on several occasions when enveloped in mist1 of immense white concentric circles with a luminous centre1 caused by the sun penetrating through different layers of mist4 ,when under similar circumstances the sun was behind the spectator instead of in front1 and the spectator himself not enveloped in the mist1 a huge spectre--the spectator's shadow--was often reflected in the centre of the luminous circle4 ,as ,i have elsewhere described1 the latter phenomenon can be produced by the moon or the sun1 by the former in a less intensified form1 by the latter with a circular rainbow of beautiful colours4 ,there are many kinds of 8seas of mist0 upon mountains1 some with islands 7mountain tops peeping through71 some without2 some smooth-surfaced like a placid lake1 others in undulations or actual waves like a stormy sea4 ,the shadows and lights play upon the mist and produce many quaint effects1 and objects assume curious and interesting shapes4 ,one misty evening1 near the ,nui ,glacier1 ,i saw before me what seemed an immense crouching lion carved in the rock1 not unlike one of the famous lions in ,trafalgar ,square1 only some thousand times bigger4 ,sure enough you could see the eyes1 the luxuriant mane1 the extended forepaws1 and the tail spread out with the typical end tuft of hair4 ,it was only on getting quite close that the huge animal showed itself to be a mere big boulder1 with three mani walls with terminal chokdens 7cairns7 erected by ,tibetans from its base1 which from a distance formed the lion's legs and tail4 ,so much for optical illusions2 there are a thousand more upon high mountains1 and it is the number of surprises one meets at every moment which makes a lonely life at great elevations full of enchantment4 ,having1 on our descent from the ,savage ,pass1 reached a lower elevation and less perilous ground to tread upon1 we directed our steps towards #bj 7,n4,e47 bearings magnetic4 ,at #af1ajj feet we found moss1 but now dead and dry4 ,unfortunately for us we were benighted before we could find a suitable camping-ground1 and a violent snow-storm broke out which made it very difficult to see where we were going4 ,we were endeavouring to get lower down1 where we could obtain some shelter and a slightly warmer temperature1 my men being simply paralysed with cold4 ,they stumbled along1 a row of black silent figures1 ,i keeping the direction in which ,i wanted to travel with a luminous compass4 ,we went on for a considerable portion of the night1 the storm getting so bad that we could not see where we were putting our feet2 and towards midnight1 having come across a lot of big boulders1 we decided to take advantage of them and make camp4 ,my men were so tired and frozen that they simply threw themselves down1 covered themselves up1 and went fast asleep1 declining to eat any food4 ,they had eaten nothing that day1 for they maintained that if you eat food when you are so cold you will surely die4 ,of course their philosophy does not go quite so far as to reflect whether it is preferable to die of indigestion or from the low temperature4 ,personally1 as ,i have never been troubled with the former1 ,i thought ,i would not risk the latter4 ,while everybody around snored and moaned or was delirious from pain1 ,i got out a small spirit ,etna and attempted to brew myself some hot chocolate4 ,box after box of matches went in trying to keep it alight1 and when1 after using the patience of a saint1 ,i had succeeded in making the water tepid1 my tent was blown down on the top of us1 and upset the whole thing4 ,so1 cold chocolate ,i ate in chunks and some corned beef--oh1 it was cold6--and some biscuits4 ,it was as lonely a meal as ,i have ever had1 with the wind hissing and the snow accumulating upon my shoulders1 knees1 and head4 ,i did not like to rouse my poor men to put up the tent again1 for it was no use1 the snow was too deep and the pegs would not hold2 but ,i made myself a sort of low shelter with some boxes and the tent spread on them1 and having crept underneath1 slept soundly till the morning4 8,oh1 what a morning60 ,i exclaimed1 when ,i opened my aching1 half-frozen eyelids4 ,worse than the night before1 and the snow coming down as ,i have seldom seen it come before4 ,my baggage was buried altogether1 and so were my men1 except for some breathing-space cleared near the head4 ,all the urging in the world would not get them up1 and every time ,i gave them a dig in sensitive spots with my bamboo stick1 it only brought forth pitiable moans and groans4 ,towards #aj ,a4,m4 the storm abated somewhat1 and we dug out the loads and departed1 my men still declining to eat any food4 ,hungry and shivering1 they were indeed a pitiable sight4 ,their normal sense of humour was sadly lacking that day1 and they strode unsteadily1 with long1 mournful faces1 as if they were about to mount the executioner's scaffold4 ,we went on the whole day mostly in mist and sleet and snow1 and towards evening we arrived at the bottom of the valley4 ,excitement did not altogether lack4 ,three avalanches came down during the day with deafening fracas4 ,one of them1 which brought down a lot of dbris and rock1 sounded like a regular battle1 with sharp fusilading and big artillery1 with a deafening report at the end which almost stunned us4 ,next we came to a broad river which it was necessary to ford1 and wading across it chilled us about as much as we could endure4 ,our toes got so cold--almost frost-bitten--that it required some minutes of rubbing and thumping before we could stand upon them again4 ,the pain was quite excruciating4 ,while we were in this plight we heard voices4 ,we answered1 and presently two ,jumli shepherds1 half-scared and shaggy1 cautiously approached us4 ,we received the information that some few more hours' marching would take us to the village of ,tinker1 and for it we made with renewed vigour4 ,stumbling and slipping constantly after it got dark1 we went on and on4 ,more snow1 more wind4 ,hour after hour passed1 but no village4 ,at last1 at #c ,a4,m41 my men half-dead with fatigue and hunger1 we arrived at the modest little village of ,tinker4 ,my men had wilfully been forty consecutive hours without a morsel of food1 but once under a roof with a blazing fire1 they were now preparing to make up for lost time4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,tinker is a village of ,shokas1 at no less an elevation by hypsometrical apparatus than #ab1ffd feet4 ,our arrival necessarily caused a great deal of commotion1 and everybody was up to see what was happening4 ,it is the custom in that part of ,nepal--a habit of all ,shokas generally--that no stranger must enter a village after sunset without sending a messenger ahead to warn the residents2 so1 according to their code of manners1 we were committing a gross breach of etiquette4 ,i well knew this1 and upon arrival immediately asked for the chieftain of the village to express my sorrow that we were unable to advise him of our arrival4 ,the chief was a splendid fellow--an old friend of mine--a man with a heart of gold and the manner of a most polished gentleman4 ,he placed his house at my disposal1 and showered upon us lavish presents of food--fresh meat1 rice1 ghur1 and dried fruit4 ,he would on no account accept money1 so ,i gave him presents of various kinds1 and distributed the money among his family and servants4 ,i have ever made it a rule never to accept presents from anybody anywhere1 and1 when gifts are forced upon me1 to give back some gift of equivalent value4 ,with natives particularly ,i ever followed this golden rule1 nevertheless displaying gratitude for their thoughtful offerings4 ,the house in which we dwelt was a stone structure1 the rooms only some #g feet high1 with little slits of windows and a somewhat disjointed door4 ,when a huge fire was lighted in the room1 with no escape for the smoke or heat1 you were simply roasted and suffocated1 but after our cold1 fireless nights on the glaciers this felt to us the most comfortable and luxurious abode we had ever been in4 ,fleas there were in abundance--little fleas with marvellous jumping powers1 and giant ones of astounding voracity4 ,with their proverbial partiality for strangers1 they of course directed their undivided attention to us new-comers1 and particularly to me4 ,in a moment we were covered with hundreds of bites4 ,the chieftain told me how the ,tibetans on the frontier close by were in a great state of excitement over my approach4 ,they boasted of having #ejjj soldiers ready to meet me1 and hearing that ,i was now on ,nepal territory they had despatched them to the ,tinker ,pass to capture me4 ,the ,tibetans had been for some days busy polishing up their matchlocks and grinding their swords1 and they had accumulated large piles of stones to precipitate down upon me in ravines which we had to get through4 ,the same stories ,i had on many occasions heard before1 both on my previous journey into ,tibet and on the present4 ,when we got up in the morning a great many yaks came in laden with ,tibetan wool1 which the natives barter with ,tibetans in exchange for food-stuff1 and also long strings of sheep and goats with double sacks slung across the back and filled with borax4 ,with some of these caravans1 unluckily1 arrived--unseen by me--some ,tibetan spies1 and they at once set to work to scare the villagers4 ,there was a sudden commotion in the village1 the natives ran here and there conveying their children1 goods1 and chattels into their houses1 and in these they barricaded themselves4 ,only the chief remained cool and collected2 and1 to avoid getting him into trouble1 and by way of precaution1 ,i shifted my quarters from his house to a high point commanding the village1 where ,i pitched my tents1 placing men with loaded rifles on guard of my baggage4 ,it looked very much as if there were trouble brewing ahead4 ,some of these ,nepalese ,shokas are very curious people1 shifty and unfathomable1 the life they lead being one of semi-brigandage and trading4 ,they are interesting enough as a type--flat-faced and of strongly ,mongolian features1 as in the portraits of the long-haired young men ,i give in two of the coloured plates--and they have from contact adopted some of the dash and independence of the ,nepalese4 ,we took no notice of the warlike preparations1 and when some young fellows1 bolder than the rest1 came out of their houses to inform us rudely that we must go at once1 they duly had their heads punched4 ,we would go when it pleased me1 and not before4 ,bad luck never comes singly1 but it can sometimes be turned into good luck4 ,a ,nepalese agent also arrived early that morning1 and could persuade no more messengers to come and approach me on the subject of departing from their country1 so he had to come on the errand himself4 ,with many salaams the ,nepalese officer came forth1 and1 after tender inquiries after every possible existing and imaginary relative of mine he could think of1 he gently entered upon the question of my leaving the country4 ,asked whether he would like his head punched too1 or a gift of five rupees not to worry me and induce the natives to sell me #cjj lbs4 of rice1 some goats1 ghur1 and butter1 he at once said he preferred the five rupees1 and would endeavour to do all he could to be of assistance4 ,in fact1 he went into the village again1 and shortly after the provisions were duly sold to me4 ,you see1 five rupees would be to him1 in ,nepal1 as much as he would receive in cash from his ,government for two months' salary4 ,we sacrificed a goat for luck--the luck consisting chiefly in the dinner that followed--and in the afternoon we made a start in order to cross the ,tibetan frontier4 ,the ,tinker village is perched on a height some distance from the spot where the two principal sources of the ,tinker river join--one coming from the five glaciers to the east 7those described in the previous chapter71 the other source descending precipitously and with great force from the ,tinker ,glacier higher up1 to the north of the village1 and spreading in a ,n4,e4 direction4 ,tinker itself is a quaint and interesting place4 ,flying prayers--generally pieces of white cloth--decorated every roof in the village1 and some shrubs were similarly decorated with hundreds of strips of cloth--red1 blue1 or white--deposited there by devotees4 ,chokdens--piles of stones--were numerous1 many of them constructed of stones each of which was inscribed with the ,tibetan prayer--8,om mani padme hum40 ,farther up the mountain one found curious ancient cave-dwellings1 identical with those ,i have in a previous work described at ,taklakot1 in ,tibet1 the peculiar composition of the rock permitting the chambers to be hollowed out with comparative ease4 ,these dwellings are very suitable for that climate1 being relatively warm in winter and cool in summer1 besides answering all the purposes of a fortress when built high up into a cliff4 ,in ,tibet itself these cliff-dwellings are most elaborate1 and are connected by means of intricate passages and galleries going right up to the summit of the high cliff4 ,outer ways of communication are also noticeable1 in the form of dangerous-looking steps and sharp and narrow gradients1 by which the lodgers can find access to or escape from their apartments4 ,upon the higher ,himahlyas1 in certain selected points1 such as on passes1 or where two trails branch off1 or near villages1 is generally to be found a gay exhibition of flying prayers1 hundreds of them1 suspended from ropes stretched across upon high poles4 ,large banners are also frequently to be seen at these spots4 ,passing caravans make these favourite halting-places4 ,both the women of ,tibet and those of neighbouring tribes often select these spots for stretching their hand-looms and weaving their fabrics4 ,the ,tinker ,glacier was a very beautiful sight with its high terraces1 and we followed it for its entire length on our way up to the pass4 ,it was a long and steep climb1 mostly on snow1 and as the trail was low down between high mountains to the ,s4,w4 and ,n4,e4 the sun did not penetrate for any length of time1 so that the cold was intense4 ,my men were rather heavily laden1 and at sunset1 owing to our late start1 we had gone but a few miles4 ,we halted at a ,tibetan camping-ground1 where there were a number of black ,tibetan tents1 their occupants bolting full-speed up the mountain-side as soon as they saw us4 ,after some coaxing1 and promises that we would in no way harm them1 they gradually returned and attended to their business4 ,the women had erected a great many looms outside the tents1 and some jolly1 but somewhat shaggy1 females were noisily and busily engaged beating wool previous to packing2 others were spinning it and winding it round long rods2 others were speedily making narrow strips of cloth upon their looms4 ,upon receiving small presents they became quite friendly1 and gave much information regarding the war preparations of their countrymen4 ,they said thousands of soldiers were guarding the pass4 ,next morning ,i went to see for myself1 but the ,tibetan soldiers had1 when ,i arrived1 already beaten a hasty retreat1 leaving nothing more than their footmarks on the snow4 ,although ,i constantly heard of this formidable army1 ,i never was able to catch it up during my incursions1 or establish its exact position1 much less meet it4 ,everybody has heard so much of late of ,tibetan scenery and travelling that it will perhaps be more agreeable to the reader if ,i devote most of the space which remains at my disposal to the description of some ,tibetan customs4 ,it is well known that ,tibet is a high plateau1 ,s4,w4 ,tibet especially1 where most of my exploration extended1 averaging heights of from #ae1jjj to #ai1jjj feet1 so that people who live in such a climate and such a country are bound to have peculiarities of their own1 and their ways offer many curious problems4 ,first of all1 ,i will answer some of the most common questions--generally very stupid--which ,i am daily being asked by people who try to be clever1 about the ,forbidden ,land4 8,if you say that ,tibet is such a high plateau1 barren and cold1 with no trees and no agriculture to speak of1 how is it that the people live there80 ,well1 if people stop to think a little1 the same question applies to every country4 ,why do negroes live in ,central ,africa1 where it is so hot8 ,why do people go and live in ,panama1 where it is so unhealthy8 ,why do we live in ,london1 where it is so foggy and damp8 ,in the case of the ,tibetans1 as with everybody else in regard to their native land1 they believe that no country in the world can possibly compare with their own--which1 indeed1 in a sense1 is true4 ,they believe their land is the most beautiful1 the richest1 the healthiest on earth1 their religion the only one1 their civilisation the highest4 ,the ,tibetans1 having lived for so many generations at such great altitudes1 suffer a great deal when they travel to lower elevations1 and they experience a feeling of suffocation and heaviness which makes them very ill and frequently causes their death4 ,this is not so much the case with natives of the ,sikkim district and of ,lhassa1 which are at a much lower elevation2 but ,i am talking principally of the natives of ,s4,w4 ,tibet1 few of whom live at an elevation of less than #ae1jjj feet4 8,then10 say other wise folks1 8if you maintain that next to nothing grows in ,tibet1 that the people are not farmers1 how do they manage to live80 ,the answer is simple4 ,the ,tibetans import all their food from ,india1 ,nepal1 ,cashmere1 and ,china during the summer months1 while the snow-passes are open1 and they store it in sufficient quantities to last them all through the winter4 ,wheat1 rice1 tsamba 7a kind of oatmeal71 ghur 7sweet paste71 sugar are bartered in large quantities in exchange for borax1 salt1 sheep1 and yak wool4 ,another question that seems to puzzle most people is why polyandry exists legally in ,tibet instead of our marriage customs or polygamy1 and in the next chapter ,i will endeavour to explain the reason1 as well as why women are so much less numerous than men4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,the first two things that strike an observant traveller on entering a ,tibetan encampment are that the number of children in the population is so small1 and that the majority of ,tibetans appear1 to ,european eyes1 middle-aged1 or even old and decrepit4 ,the second remark is more easily explained than the first1 and many are the reasons which cause ,tibetan men and women to look well on in years long before they have attained a really advanced age4 ,i have seen a man with hands and face so wrinkled that he might easily pass for an octogenarian1 yet he was no more than three-and-forty4 ,the women manage to preserve their complexion slightly better than the men1 by smearing the cheeks1 nose1 and forehead with a black ointment4 ,this1 to a certain extent1 prevents the skin chapping in the cold1 but the winds in ,tibet are so terrific that they are disastrous to any human skin1 whether besmeared with grease or not4 ,indeed1 no one who has not been in ,tibet knows what wind can be4 ,i cannot better describe a gale than by likening it to myriads of knives thrown at one with great force4 ,it cuts into one through any kind of clothing1 and penetrates to the marrow of one's bones4 ,the skin1 particularly where exposed1 chaps and cracks and becomes a mass of sores1 unless the constant precaution is taken of keeping it well soaked in butter1 grease1 or vaseline4 ,again1 the intense glare of the snow-covered landscape and the extraordinary brilliancy of the atmosphere compel the natives constantly to frown--as may be noticed in many of the illustrations reproduced in this work--in order to screen their semi-closed eyes as much as possible from the blinding light4 ,this everlasting frown1 of course1 covers the forehead with deep wrinkles and grooves1 while 8crow's feet0 in continuation of the outward corners of the eyes and deep channels at both ends of the lips disfigure the faces of ,tibetans at an early age4 ,naturally1 to a ,european these wrinkles at once suggest age1 whereas they are merely caused by the inclement weather1 and they have been the chief cause which has led casual observers to describe the population of ,tibet as composed mainly of old people4 ,another curious fact worth noticing is that1 according to theoretical scientists1 the greatly rarefied air of the ,tibetan plateau should retard the growth of human beings1 and that therefore a ,tibetan should reach the age of puberty later in life than people living in a corresponding latitude but at lower elevations4 ,this is not the case at all4 ,tibetan boys and girls attain a state of maturity at a comparatively early age4 ,i have often noticed girls of fifteen or sixteen and boys of eighteen or nineteen fully developed1 and it is at these respective ages that men and women of ,tibet frequently marry4 ,now let us try to explain why one sees so few children in ,tibet4 ,personally1 ,i think it is mainly due to the custom of polyandry prevailing in the country1 which is bound to have disastrous effects upon the birth-rate of healthy1 strong children1 with deteriorating results upon every generation2 and also undoubtedly the altitudes at which the people live to a great extent limit the increase of population4 ,the generally unhealthy condition of most ,tibetans' blood also greatly contributes to the non-fertility of parents4 ,we have yet another curious fact4 ,to an average of fifteen male children who are born and live in ,tibet1 only one female child is healthy enough to survive4 ,there are various reasons for this1 and it would be difficult to discover the primary one2 but in my mind1 and from personal observation1 ,i could not help associating that fact with these two principal causes4 ,first1 the food diet of the parents1 which certainly has marked effects on the production of one sex more than another2 secondly1 the greater mortality among the weaker female children4 ,tibetans always told me that the death-rate in children under the age of two years was very great in proportion to the number of births4 ,it is impossible to give exact statistics1 but1 from constant inquiry from families ,i met1 ,i came to the conclusion that an average of three children out of seven born succumb before the age of five4 ,of these deaths1 the majority would be female children4 ,the life of a ,tibetan baby is not a merry one at best4 ,he is cherished by his mother when newly born1 and for some days the new-comer affords amusement to the tent-mates and the members of the tribe4 ,occasional caresses are bestowed upon him1 but the trials of having a loving mother soon begin4 ,she will besmear him from head to foot several times daily with yak butter1 the mother realising that by this process the skin of her infant will be made impervious to cold2 and with maternal fondness she will press and force the butter into every pore of his little body4 ,this done1 the baby is left naked in the sun so that under the heat of its rays his skin may absorb the maximum of melted butter4 ,his next torture comes in the shape of piercing his poor little ears4 ,the lobes are rubbed between the first finger and thumb until they become numbed1 then with a long silver or brass pin the hole is made1 the fond mother being again the operator4 ,as care is never taken to disinfect the pin from the accumulation of dirt upon it1 and as that very same pin has for generations been used in the various capacities of tooth-1 nose-1 and ear-pick1 nail-cleaner1 and head- and back-scratcher1 it is not infrequent to find that the ear-piercing operation is accompanied by inflammation or some nasty sore or other1 causing the little fellow much unnecessary pain4 ,heavy ear-rings are next inserted1 elongating and disfiguring the little ears1 in many instances the lobes actually tearing down altogether owing to the weight of the ear-ring4 ,until a few months old the baby is made to lie in a basket1 in which he is carried about on his mother's back--that is to say1 if the mother is in a comfortable enough position to own a basket4 ,otherwise she will carry him on her back1 suspended by his little arms1 which she tightly clasps over her shoulders2 and as this mode of transport somewhat lacks comfort1 it is rather curious to notice the intelligence of ,tibetan babies in order to feel the least inconvenience possible4 ,under similar circumstances the average civilised baby who felt his little arms almost pulled out of their sockets would very likely cry and scream1 helplessly dangling his legs in order to be again deposited on terra firma4 ,the ,tibetan baby knows better4 ,guided only by his instincts1 he will clasp his mother's waist with his little toes1 so supple that he can use them almost like fingers4 ,by thus supporting his own weight upon her hips in the identical position of a monkey climbing a tree1 the tension on his arms is absolutely released and he looks quite at his ease1 even comfortable4 ,babies in ,tibet1 as in other lands1 do not lack a temporary charm4 ,they are by nature good1 well-behaved babies2 occasionally they are even jolly4 ,the clothes in which their mothers garb them are not devoid of quaintness1--as can be judged by some of the illustrations1--and if often size is preferred to style1 it is1 as in most countries1 for economy's sake4 ,sometimes ,i have seen babies simply smothered in beads and ornaments1 but even the humblest displays a row of beads round his neck and a charm or two4 ,notwithstanding what has been said of the strange marital customs1 the average ,tibetan woman is seldom absolutely sterile4 ,this1 of course1 is mainly due to the fact that if she survives at all to the age of puberty1 it is because she is strong and healthy2 but at best she is never so prolific as her ,asiatic sisters or even ,european women4 ,in ,tibet one rarely finds a woman with more than three living children4 ,the majority of mothers can only boast of one4 ,yet1 on the other hand1 the ,tibetan woman can bear children until a fairly advanced age4 ,i remember meeting a lady who acknowledged her age--after complicated computation with the aid of fingers and toes--to be forty4 ,her skin was so wrinkled and rough that without maliciousness one could have put her down at fifty-five1 but maybe she spoke the truth--she certainly was not less than what she had stated4 ,she carried in her arms a baby a few months old4 8,it is my baby10 she proudly said1 screening with her hand the fat offspring to prevent the 8evil eye0 of an inquisitive foreigner4 8,go away2 do not touch him or he will die40 ,i was in a chaffing mood1 and chaff in ,tibet can never be too personal4 8,i do not believe that he can be your baby1 for he has a smooth skin and yours is rough and wrinkled4 ,were he your child he would have a skin like yours40 ,the woman1 half-amused1 half-astonished1 called witnesses to testify that the baby was really hers1 and after assumed reluctance ,i acknowledged that there existed some resemblance between mother and son1 in the lack of nose4 8,why10 ,i asked her1 8did you not have the child sooner1 so that he might now be a help and comfort to you in your old age80 ,she said she had had two other children1 but they had died1 one when only 8a few moons0 old1 the other when about four years of age4 ,with the exception of the few larger towns1 ,tibet is peopled by small1 semi-nomadic tribes4 ,a large tribe may number a hundred tents1 but the average is from ten to fifty tents4 ,each tent is inhabited by one family1 although investigation generally brings out the fact that nearly all members of a tribe are related to one another owing to the constant intermarriage among themselves4 ,this constant intermarriage also contributes to a great extent to the decadence of the race generally1 and to the diminution of the population with each generation4 ,i had several opportunities of noticing the difference which existed when either the wife or husband had come from a distant tribe4 ,there were generally more children to the union1 and they were invariably stronger1 both physically and mentally4 ,the ,tibetans are well aware of this1 and when a tribe is likely to die out from the causes ,i have stated1 fresh blood is imported into it by the advice of the ,lamas in order to revive it4 ,i found that the cleverer men ,i met in the country were generally born from parents of different tribes1 and not infrequently of widely separated social positions4 ,in cases of crosses between different races altogether1 such as a ,tibetan and a ,nepalese1 for instance1 or a ,shoka1 or other frontier tribes1 the families were larger2 but these semi-foreign marriages are not common1 and cannot be given as a general rule4 ,wilful infanticide is seldom practised in ,tibet1 and cannot be put down as one of the causes limiting population4 ,it1 of course1 occasionally occurs1 for instance1 in order to suppress an illegitimate child1 but the custom is greatly looked down upon by ,tibetans1 although no punishment--beyond the contempt of the entire tribe--would be meted out to the culprits4 ,the women of ,tibet are seldom separated from one or other of their husbands4 ,when one man goes for some days to take the yaks or sheep to a distant grazing ground1 another fills his place in the tent4 ,occasionally more than one of her legal husbands live together happily under the same tent1 but usually not more than one at a time4 ,as ,i have fully explained in a previous book1 ,in the ,forbidden ,land1 marriages are principally family arrangements1 where a girl becomes the wife of several brothers2 and1 in any case1 bachelors are1 as a whole1 to be greatly congratulated in ,tibet4 ,other minor causes there are which tend to limit population1 but which cannot very well be mentioned here4 ,several diseases of the blood--very common--decidedly do not improve the race2 and possibly all these evils--some natural1 some unnatural--may in time bring about the disappearance of the ,tibetan race from their lofty and sacred land4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,another thing that strikes the traveller in ,tibet is the sturdiness of ,tibetan ponies1--long-haired1 short1 stumpy little brutes1 which possess most marvellous endurance under circumstances which would kill most horses4 ,they live on whatever grass they can find1 which is not much--at best1 short semi-dried blades which take a good deal of looking for before you can see them at all4 ,tibet ponies have all the qualities of a goat and antelope combined1 and ,i have seen them1 with a rider on their back1 go up gradients where a human being would have great difficulty to go up on foot4 ,the dogs of ,tibet are not quite so attractive1 being either vicious to a degree or else stupid1 lazy1 and uninteresting4 ,the common kind is not unlike our sheep-dog1 except that the hair is longer1 which in some cases gives them a slight appearance of collie dogs4 ,they are generally ill-treated and suffering1 and they seem to have no affection for anybody4 ,they possess plenty of intelligence1 especially those trained by shepherds1 and they are indeed a great help to their masters in driving the flock in the right direction and keeping the sheep together4 ,these sheep-dogs are generally made to carry a broad leather collar with an immense brass bell4 ,perhaps1 talking of dogs' affection1 ,i might here give some account of a ,tibetan dog--a friend of mine--that ,i met on my first expedition into ,tibet1 while ,i was being chased all over the country by the ,tibetan army4 ,one night1 during a storm1 we were attacked1 and ,i heard a number of voices around my camp4 ,i only had two men left1 and we jumped up to defend ourselves4 ,stones were flung at us with slings--an art at which both ,tibetan men and women excel4 ,from their earliest childhood they keep in constant practice at flinging stones1 and in daylight they can hit the mark with great accuracy4 ,shepherds use them constantly1 and can pick out any sheep in a flock of hundreds4 ,we kept close to the ground1 rifle in hand1 a few feet from our tent1 to avoid being hit1 as evidently they were aiming at it1 it being of a lightish colour4 ,they struck it several times4 ,with them was a dog barking furiously all the time4 ,dog and men seemed to be approaching--at least1 by the sounds of their voices1 for ,i could not see them4 ,this seemed an appropriate time to fire a shot1 which would undoubtedly1 as usual1 cause a stampede4 ,it did4 ,only the dog remained1 barking and yelping the whole night1 but we were otherwise not troubled in any other way1 although1 of course1 we kept watch until sunrise1 when all we found were numerous fresh footmarks a few yards from our tent4 ,the dog ran about a good deal1 barking and barking1 until we prepared our breakfast1 when he sat himself down upon his hindquarters and watched the proceedings with keen interest4 ,he seemed very shy1 and whenever we tried to get near him he bolted away with his tail between his legs1 howling madly as if he had been hit by a stone4 ,dogs in ,tibet are so accustomed to have stones flung at them at every possible opportunity that no doubt in his imagination he fancied he had been hit by a missile each time we raised our hand to caress him4 ,animals are not unlike people in that way4 ,at last1 by offers of tinned meat and the use of the favourite ,tibetan term of endearment1 8,chochu1 chochu10 the dog became our friend4 ,he seemed utterly astonished at being caressed1 and rubbed himself affectionately against our legs4 ,he took a particular fancy to ,mansing1 my faithful man who developed leprosy1 and from that day the dog followed us everywhere4 ,mansing1 who was suffering considerably1 and who took no interest whatever in scientific observations1 photography1 surveying1 etc41 had at last a sympathising friend to whom he could confide his grievances4 ,the two were inseparable1 and whenever we stopped ,mansing pathetically conversed with the dog1 who seemed almost to understand all the coolie was telling him4 ,it was rather a puzzle to me why this dog followed us so long1 for we had so little food that we could but seldom spare him any4 ,he slept near us at night with his head on the lap of one of us1 and during the march he showed quite sporting instincts by chasing antelopes and kiang 7wild horse7 when we encountered herds of hundreds of them4 ,curiously enough1 when we entered a ,tibetan encampment he always avoided being seen in our company4 ,it seemed almost as if he realised that we were not welcome guests in the country1 and feared the consequences4 ,possibly he only temporarily left us to see what he could pick up in the way of food1 but whenever we came across him in the encampment1 he never would show signs of recognition1 much less of affection1 as was the case when he would rejoin us some miles beyond on the march1 when he made ample efforts to reingratiate himself4 ,he seemed almost to want to express3 8,sorry ,i had to cut you in the encampment1 but ,i really had to60 ,at last the day came when we were captured1 and underwent several kinds of tortures1 as ,i have already described in ,in the ,forbidden ,land4 ,the dog had vanished1 and1 to tell the truth1 we did not give him much of a thought1 as we were somewhat concerned about ourselves4 ,one day1 when ,mansing and ,i were stretched1 or rather suspended1 on a primitive kind of rack1 and we were for some time left to ourselves--the soldiers and ,lamas having retired some distance off into the huge tent of the ,pombo1 a high official--the dog sadly walked towards us1 sniffing us1 and rubbing himself against ,mansing and me4 ,he was particularly affectionate to ,mansing1 whose face he licked several times2 then with a pathetic movement of his head as if to express his sorrow1 he gave us a parting sad look1 turned his back1 and walked slowly and sorrowfully away4 ,that was his last mark of friendship and the last we saw of him4 ,tibetan encampments have no great interest except for the peculiar shape of the black tents--a pattern of shelter most suitable for the climate of their country4 ,the two sides of the tent are separate1 and when the tent is put up it leaves an aperture all along its highest ridge4 ,this is for various reasons4 ,first1 because the ,tibetans light fires inside their tents1 and an opening is necessary to let the smoke out2 also as a means of ventilation1 the cold air not penetrating so quickly as when it comes in at the sides1 owing to the warmed atmosphere inside4 ,the black tents are woven of a coarse and waterproof fabric of yak hair4 ,through the slit at the top generally protrude the props of the matchlocks bundled against one of the tent poles4 ,every man in ,tibet owns one of these weapons1 and is considered a soldier in time of war4 ,the inside of a large ,tibetan tent is quaint enough when you have reached it by skipping over masses of dirt and refuse which surround its outside4 ,only1 when you peep in1 the odour is rather strong of the people1 old and young1 all since birth innocent of washing1 and the smell of badly-prepared skins1 and stores of chura 7cheese74 ,nor must ,i forget to mention the wall of yak-dung erected right round the tent inside to serve the double purpose of protection against the wind where the tent meets the ground1 and of fuel1 being gradually demolished to feed the double mud-stove erected in the centre of the tent4 ,mud alone is also occasionally used for the inside wall4 ,as you know1 dung is practically the only fuel obtainable in the highest parts of ,tibet1 although occasionally a few low shrubs are to be found4 ,the fuel is constantly collected and conveyed from one camp to the next1 when changing in order to find more suitable grazing for the sheep and yaks4 ,the centre mud-stove is built according to the most practical notions to make it draw properly1 and upon it can nearly always be seen one or two large raksangs1 brass vessels in which brick-tea is being stewed and stirred with a long brass spoon4 ,but the operation of tea-making is rather complicated in ,tibet4 ,after the leaves have been stewed long enough the liquid is poured into a dongbo1 or cylindrical wooden churn1 in which have been deposited several balls of butter with copious sprinkling of salt4 ,a piston which passes through the movable lid is then vigorously set in action1 and when well stirred and steaming the mixture is served all round and avidly drunk in wooden bowls1 one of which every one carries about the person4 ,tsamba1 a kind of oatmeal1 is frequently mixed with the tea in the bowls1 where it is made into a paste with the fingers4 ,no matter how much non-,tibetan folks may find merriment in the idea of tea being brewed with butter and salt1 there is no doubt that for a climate like ,tibet it is 8the drink0 par excellence4 ,it warms1 nourishes1 and is easily digested4 ,i very often indulged in the luxury myself1 when ,i could obtain butter1 only1 my digestion working rather rapidly owing to the amount of roughing we daily endured1 ,i left out the salt so that ,i should not digest the mixture too quickly4 ,the richer owners of tents generally have a sort of folding shrine1 with one or more images of ,buddha1 which occupies the place of honour in the tent4 ,numerous brass bowls and ornaments are displayed in front of these images and also offerings of tsamba and butter4 ,wicks1 burning in butter1 are occasionally lighted around and upon the shrine4 ,decrepit old women seem to spend most of their time revolving their prayer-wheels and muttering prayers in front of these altars1 and when occasion arises thus teaching little children to do the same4 ,the younger folk1 too1 are very religious1 but not to the fanatical extent of the older ones4 ,it is quite amusing to see little mites--children are always quaint in every country--try to master the art of revolving the prayer-wheel4 ,it must be revolved from left to right1 to pray in the proper fashion1--not that if you revolved it the other way you would necessarily be swearing1 only1 according to the laws of ,tibetan ,buddhism1 prayers spun in the wrong direction would have no effect and bring no benefit4 ,in a similar way circumambulations1 either round hills for pilgrimages1 or round a tent1 or round a sacred lake1 must always follow a similar direction to the revolving of the prayer-wheel4 ,in ,lhassa and many other sacred places fanatical pilgrims make these circumambulations1 sometimes for miles and miles1 and for days together1 covering the entire distance lying flat upon their bodies1 then placing the feet where the head was and stretching themselves full length4 ,inside temples a central enclosure is provided1 round which these circumambulations are performed1 special devotions being offered before ,buddha and many of the other gilt or high-coloured images which adorn the walls of the temple4 ,as can be seen by the coloured plate illustrating one of these scenes1 from the ceiling of the temple hang hundreds of long strips1 ,katas1 offered by pilgrims to the temple and becoming so many flying prayers when hung up--for mechanical praying in every way is prominent in ,tibet4 ,there is1 after all1 no reason why praying should not be made easy like everything else4 ,thus1 instead of having to learn by heart long and varied prayers1 all you have to do is to stuff the entire prayer-book 7written on a roll in ,tibet7 into the prayer-wheel1 and revolve it while repeating as fast as you can go these four words3 8,om mani padme hum10--words of ,sanscrit origin and referring to the reincarnation of ,buddha from a lotus flower1 literally 8,o ,god1 the gem emerging from the lotus flower40 ,the temples of ,tibet1 except in ,lhassa itself1 are not beautiful in any way--in fact1 they are generally very tawdry and dirty4 ,the attention of the pilgrims is directed to a large box1 or often a big bowl1 where they may deposit whatever offerings they can spare1 and it must be said that their religious ideas are so strongly developed that they will dispose of a considerable portion of their money in this fashion4 ,large monasteries1 of red or yellow ,lamas1 are attached to these temples1 where proselytes are also educated4 ,these ,lamas1 whatever their colour1 are very clever in many ways1 and have a great hold over the entire country4 ,they are1 ninety per cent of them1 unscrupulous scamps1 depraved in every way1 and given to every sort of vice4 ,so are the women ,lamas4 ,they live and sponge on the credulity and ignorance of the crowds2 and it is to maintain this ignorance1 upon which their luxurious life depends1 that foreign influence of every kind is strictly kept out of the country4 ,their abnormal powers have been grossly exaggerated4 ,they practise1 it is true1 hypnotism1 but that is all4 ,they can perform no more marvellous feats than any one can do in ,england who is able to mesmerize4 ,as for the ,mahatmas1 who1 our spiritualistic friends tell us1 live in ,tibet1 they are purely imaginary1 and do not exist4 ,the ,tibetans have never heard of them nor about their doings4 ,personally--and ,i am glad that the few men who know ,tibet from personal knowledge and not from political rivalry agree with me--,i believe that the intrigues of the ,lamas with ,russia are absolute nonsense4 ,tibet1 it must be remembered1 was not forbidden to ,englishmen only1 but to everybody from every side1 whether native or white1 certain ,nepalese and ,chinamen1 only1 having the privilege of entering the country4 ,it was a fight against ,western ways in general which the ,lamas were carrying on1 quite successfully owing to the geographical position of their country1 and the natural difficulties of reaching it1 and not a fight against one race more than another4 ,the accounts of the ,lhassa ,mission to the ,czar were possibly the best diplomatic practical jokes which have been played upon this credulous country2 and the mythical and much-feared ,dorjeff is possibly--at least as far as power is concerned--nothing more than the creation of hysterical ,anglo-,indian officials who1 everybody knows1 seem to see the treacherous hand of ,russia in everything4 ,perhaps no other country but ,england would be so rash as to go and sink millions of pounds sterling good money on a country that is1 for all practical purposes1 absolutely useless and worthless4 ,this does not detract from its pictorial1 nor from its geographical or ethnological interest2 from these points it is most interesting indeed4 ,agriculturally1 as ,i have stated1 nothing grows there2 no very wealthy mines have so far been discovered1 the only mines that are plentiful being of borax1 which has not sufficient market value to pay for the expensive carriage from ,tibet to the coast4 ,regarded as a climate for a sanatorium for our sick soldiers in ,india--for which ,tibet is frequently recommended by ,anglo-,indian papers--,i believe that such an establishment would be a very quick way of disposing altogether of all the sick men sent there4 ,and as for such gigantic schemes as the construction of railways1 say from ,india to the upper waters of the ,yangtze-,kiang1 or to ,pekin1 the expense of taking a railway over the ,himahlya range and keeping it in working order during the wintry months--nine out of twelve--would1 ,i think1 never be remunerative4 ,in ,tibet itself the construction of a railway would be comparatively easy1 as great stretches of the country are almost flat4 ,stations of imported fuel would have to be provided for the entire distance across ,tibet1 and the engines would have to be constructed specially to suit the great altitude4 ,for trade and commerce with the natives themselves1 the population of the country is so small1 so deplorably poor and so lacking in wants1 and the country is so large that1 personally1 ,i do not see how any large commercial venture in such a country can turn out successful4 ,it is very difficult to get money where there is none4 ,small native traders1 of course1 can make small profits and be satisfied4 ,besides1 the intercourse between ,tibet and the neighbouring countries1 particularly those to the south1 can only take place with comfort during three months of the summer when the high snow-passes are open4 ,so that1 much as ,i would like to see ,tibet open in a proper way to travellers1 ,i cannot quite understand the necessity of the ,government spending millions of money and butchering thousands of helpless and defenceless natives in a manner most repulsive to any man who is a man1 and of which we can but be ashamed--and all this to obtain a valueless commercial treaty4 ,it is true1 the ,tibetans had been very impudent in every way on our frontier1 but for this we only have to blame ourselves and our incompetent officials4 ,if1 instead of giving way to their bluff1 we had kept a firm hand1 matters would have been different4 ,even in the case of my capture and torture on my first expedition into ,tibet ,i never had a feeling of resentment towards the ,tibetans for what they did to me4 ,it was very exciting and interesting for me to endeavour to reach their sacred city1 but ,i did so at my own risk and against their repeated warnings and threats1 and ,i got nothing more for it in the end than ,i expected1 in fact1 bad as it was1 considerably less4 ,highly amusing as it was to me to give them endless trouble1 it was undoubtedly equally enjoyable to them to torture me1 when once they succeeded in effecting my capture4 ,possibly1 if ,i now have any feelings at all towards the ,tibetans1 it is a feeling of gratitude towards them for sparing my life in the end1 which1 by the way1 they came within an ace of taking as they had promised to do4 ,as a punishment for what they did to me--because1 after all1 my men and ,i suffered a great deal more than the average man could stand--the ,government of ,india practically ceded1 as we have said1 all the rights to ,tibet of an immense district of ,british territory at the frontier4 ,can you blame the ,tibetans for doing worse if they had a chance8 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,in heart and soul the ,tibetan is a sportsman2 but if you look for grace in his movements you will be sorely disappointed4 ,indeed1 more fervour and clumsiness combined are hardly to be paralleled anywhere4 ,perhaps the ,tibetan is seen to advantage on his pony1 and some of his feats on the saddle ,i will here describe4 ,horse races are quite a favourite form of amusement1 and are run in a sensible manner4 ,only two ponies at a time go round the course1 the final race being run between the winners of the two best heats4 ,praying is usually combined1 in some form or other1 with everything people do in ,tibet1 and so even races are run round the foot of an isolated hill or around an encampment of tents2 for1 as you know1 circumambulation of any kind1 if in the right direction1 is equivalent to prayer1 and pleases ,god4 ,thus1 just as with their prayer-wheels1 a rotatory motion is kept up from left to right1 so races are run in the same way from the standpoint of the spectator4 ,a ,tibetan race would astonish an ,english crowd--the means adopted by the well-matched couples being very effective1 if somewhat primitive4 ,such simple devices as seizing one's opponent's reins1 or lashing him in the face to keep him back1 or pushing or pulling him off his saddle1 are considered fair and legal means in order to win the race4 ,the last heat is usually the most exciting1 especially for the spectators1 for blows with the lash are exchanged in bewildering profusion by both riders taking part in it1 their respective ponies sharing unsparingly in the punishment4 ,occasionally the race becomes a regular hippic wrestling match1 when both riders1 clinging tightly together1 tumble over and roll to the ground4 ,when the ponies are recaptured1 the bruised horsemen remount and continue the race as if nothing had happened4 ,the heavy sheepskin coats worn by the ,tibetans are some protection when the lash is applied1 and the pain inflicted is not always in proportion to the noise made by the blow2 but such is not the case when they catch one another across the face4 ,the winner is presented with a kata by the umpire--a high ,lama or a military officer1 a most picturesque creature in a brilliant red coat and fluffy hat1 who has a peculiar standard with hundreds of long1 vari-coloured strips of cloth1 or flying prayers4 ,sitting on a handsome pony1 with gaudy harness of green leather inlaid with brass1 a valuable ,chinese rug upon the saddle1 and many tinkling bells round the pony's neck1 the umpire and his pony certainly produce a gay ensemble4 ,this gentleman takes himself very seriously1 and seldom condescends to smile4 ,the kata1 or 8scarf of love and friendship10 which is given to the winner is a long piece of silk-like gauze1 the ends of which have been trimmed into a fringe4 ,as ,i have elsewhere described at greater length1 these katas play quite an important part in the social intercourse of ,tibetans4 ,they can be purchased or obtained from the ,lamas of any monastery1 or where no monastery exists the natives manufacture them themselves1 for they are constantly needed4 ,no gift can be sent nor accepted without 8a veil of friendship0 accompanying it1 and no stranger ever enters a tent without offering1 with outstretched hands1 a kata1 which he quickly lays at the feet of his host4 ,diminutive katas are enclosed in letters2 sweethearts exchange katas on every possible occasion--until they are actually married4 ,polyandry being prevalent in ,tibet1 when one of the several husbands returns to his wife after the customary absence1 he never fails to bring a kata with him4 ,not to offer a kata to an honoured visitor is as palpable a breach of manners1 and as great a slight as can possibly be offered in the ,forbidden ,land4 ,necessarily1 when a kata has been blessed by the ,lamas1 or is won in a race before high officials1 it has additional value1 and these simple folks value it more than a gift of money or food4 ,it is stored away in the tent among the heirlooms1 and is handed down to posterity4 ,a slightly more difficult feat1 very common in a similar form in most countries1 is the picking up of a kata by horsemen at full gallop4 ,one horseman1 a high official1 revolves the kata seven times in the wind1 and then darts full gallop in one direction1 followed by twenty1 thirty1 or more horsemen riding wildly1 and each trying to push his neighbours out of the way4 ,the official1 some thirty yards ahead1 flies the kata in the wind1 and when fancy takes him lets it drop out of his hand4 ,the kata eventually settles on the ground1 and the horde of riders gallops away from it1 yelling and quarrelling4 ,at a signal from the officer the horsemen turn round and make a dash for the scarf1 towards which all the ponies are converging4 ,clinging to the saddle with one hand and hanging over1 each rider attempts to pick up the kata without dismounting4 ,collisions and nasty falls are numerous1 and this sport generally partakes of the character of an all-round fight among the ponies' legs4 ,somebody1 however1 always succeeds in picking up the scarf and getting clear of the others1 when he triumphantly rides round the camp fluttering the prize in the wind4 ,some of the younger fellows are clever at this sport1 and when one rider at a time does the feat1 he seldom misses picking up the kata at the first swoop4 ,an interesting and more difficult feat of horsemanship ,i witnessed in ,tibet was the loading and firing of a matchlock while at full gallop--a performance which requires a firmer seat on the saddle than appears4 ,the heavy and cumbersome weapons had to be unslung from the shoulders1 the props let down1 the fuse lighted by flint and steel1 some gunpowder placed and kept in the small side receptacle1 and last1 but not least1 the shot fired off--that is to say1 when it would go off6 ,the full use of both hands was required in this exercise1 and therefore the horsemen held the reins with their teeth4 ,when firing they lay almost flat on the ponies' backs in order to prevent being thrown by the sudden bucking of the frightened ponies4 ,another exercise consists in bodily lifting a person on the saddle while the pony is at full gallop4 ,the pedestrian is seized as low near the waist as possible1 and the impetus of the pony's flight1 not the rider's actual strength1 is utilised in raising the person on the saddle4 ,the women seemed particularly interested in this sport1 because a practical application of this exercise is used by enterprising lads of ,tibet to overcome the scruples of reluctant maids who do not reciprocate their love4 ,at a suitable opportunity the doomed young lady is abducted bodily in that fashion1 and conveyed in all haste to the suitor's tent1 with the honourable intention1 of course1 of making her his happy bride4 ,women are scarce in ,tibet1 and actual raiding parties1 ,i was told1 occasionally take place against neighbouring tribes in order to obtain a fresh supply of wives4 ,taking things all round1 there are few men and women in ,tibet who cannot ride well1 yet there are few who can claim exceptional skill in that line4 ,the ,tibetan generally values his bones too much to indulge in fancy tricks upon his pony4 ,some young fellow1 more ambitious than others1 will master the art of standing erect upon the saddle while going full speed1 his feet being inserted into the stirrups1 which have for the purpose been shortened as high as they could go4 ,by pressing with his ankles against the saddle he manages to maintain his balance1 in the familiar way of the ,cossacks and tribes of ,central ,asia1 who all excel in this game4 ,tibetan saddles1 as you know1 are in appearance not unlike a cross between a ,cossack saddle and a rude ,mexican saddle1 and as good as neither1 but quite suited to the country where they are used4 ,men and women ride astride1 with exceptionally short stirrups1 so that the leg is bent at the knee at a right or even an acute angle4 ,in order to maintain one's equilibrium when riding fast some additional stability is obtained by stretching out the arms sideways4 ,taking all things into consideration1 there is no doubt that in a rugged1 mountainous country like ,tibet1 and for a ,tibetan1 his is the most practical and useful type of saddle1 and his fashion of riding the most sensible--evidently the outcome of practical experience4 ,when riding in caravans1 driving herds of laden yaks or ponies1 the advantages of legs doubled up high upon the saddle are soon apparent1 avoiding the danger of crushing one's lower limbs or having them partly torn off4 ,in the ,english way of riding1 when among obstacles1 one's legs are always in the way2 in the ,tibetan fashion they are always out of the way1 or1 at any rate1 can easily and quickly be moved over from one side to the other of the saddle4 ,also1 when tired of riding in one position1 altering one's position to side-saddle is quite convenient and easy4 ,the blocks of the saddles are of wood imported mainly from ,india1 ,nepal1 or ,china1 with bindings of hammered iron or brass1 often inlaid with silver and gold4 ,lizard skin and coloured leather adorn the front and back of the saddles1 and a substantial pad covers the central part and the otherwise very angular seat4 ,for extra comfort rugs--occasionally valuable and always decorative in blue and red tints--are spread1 while to leather laces behind the saddle are slung double bags containing tsamba1 chura1 or cheese1 a brick of compressed tea1 and whatever sundry articles may be used on a journey4 ,the last1 but not least attachment on a ,tibetan saddle is a long coiled rope of yak hair with a wooden peg at the end for tethering the pony at night4 ,whatever one may say of ,tibetans1 the best-inclined could not compliment them on their shooting4 ,their matchlocks--their only firearms1 made in ,lhassa and ,shigatz--are weapons so clumsy and heavy and badly made1 that when fired it is truly more dangerous to be behind them than in front of their muzzle4 ,during my captivity in ,tibet in #ahig1 indeed1 ,i was fired upon twice--by distinguished marksmen who took accurate aim only a few paces from me--but neither time was ,i hit4 ,nor in all my experience of ,tibet have ,i any remembrance of ever seeing a ,tibetan hit with a projectile from his matchlock anything which he intended1 although the range was never more than twenty or thirty yards4 ,few are the matchlocks in the ,forbidden ,land which will carry as far as fifty or a hundred yards4 ,they possess a long barrel1 not always perfectly straight nor cylindrical2 they are smooth-bore1 the explosion being caused by a primitive fuse attachment which1 when lighted by means of a flint and steel1 applies the fire to a small cup of gunpowder at the side of the barrel4 ,they have a peep-hole sight1 but this is absolutely devoid of mathematical accuracy1 and the bullets and gunpowder used by the ,tibetans are home-made and of inferior quality4 ,pebbles1 or small pieces of iron1 are frequently used for ammunition4 ,a movable prop is necessary in order to enable the long weapon to be held in a horizontal position1 and this should in a way facilitate accurate shooting4 ,apart from the various faults of the matchlocks themselves1 an additional difficulty arises in ,tibet even when firing with more perfected weapons4 ,shooting at great altitudes1 it may be pointed out1 involves special sighting of one's rifle2 the variation in the trajectory of a projectile being considerable1 at #ae1jjj or #af1jjj feet above sea-level1 owing chiefly to the rarefied air4 ,the clearness of the atmosphere also prevents the correct estimate of range4 ,for instance1 with my #bef ,mannlicher rifle1 with the usual sight at #ajj yards1 it was necessary at that altitude to aim about a foot lower than the target in order to make a bull's eye4 ,when people get to high elevations for the first time1 and until they have the cause explained to them1 or learn it for themselves1 this is a constant puzzle1 and frequently leads to the condemnation of a good weapon4 ,it must be said for the ,tibetan that his eye is generally fairly accurate and his hand steady1 and with bows and arrows ,i have seen some archers make quite creditable performances4 ,these are1 however1 now looked upon as obsolete weapons by the natives4 ,the soldiers as well as civilians are armed with matchlocks4 ,men and women in ,tibet are extremely skilful in the use of a rope sling1 which they always carry about their person1 and with which they can fling stones long distances with great precision4 ,it is not uncommon1 as ,i have said1 to see them strike in this manner a picked recalcitrant sheep in a large flock1 or a distant yak which they want to drive to camp4 ,even children1 through constant practice1 are adepts at stone-throwing4 ,all over ,asia1 as we have seen1 is found the ancient custom of 8stone-fighting10 either as a sport or to settle disputes between factions2 and although in ,tibet these combats do not assume such gigantic proportions as in ,corea1 for instance1 where thousands of combatants are engaged in fierce fights1 still in the ,forbidden ,land1 too1 there is plenty of scope for broken skulls and bruises4 ,the battles are generally fought between the male members of two or more rival families1 and seldom between large factions or guilds1 except in big towns such as ,lhassa or ,shigatz1 where these stone fights occasionally assume alarming proportions4 ,they are undoubtedly a speedy and practical method of settling controversies among rival families1 besides affording some considerable amusement and excitement to the gathered crowd of spectators watching the progress of the combat well out of range of the missiles4 ,stone-throwing in a different form1 as a sport1 is indulged in on festive occasions by young men4 ,some large rocks1 more or less spherical1 and some #cj to #ej lbs4 in weight1 being collected1 and the participants in the game having divested themselves of their heavy coats1 which are left hanging from their waistbands1 the rocks are lifted and swung over the head and flung some considerable distance1 often ten or twelve yards1 either into an appropriate hole or near a mark-stone4 ,this exercise generally takes place near a mani wall1 such as is represented in the illustration in this book4 ,another form of the same game consists in kicking to or near a particular spot a small stone with the instep of one's foot1 swinging one's stiffened leg as if it were a golf-club4 ,wrestling is one of the few other sports noticeable in ,tibet4 ,it is1 however1 not commonly indulged in1 and is done according to no rules4 ,it is1 in fact1 in the 8catch as catch can0 style1 with additional biting and vicious kicking until the victor can firmly hold the helpless vanquished flat under him4 ,the amusement which always causes much mirth among ,tibetans is tobogganing4 ,they do not always indulge in it as a sport2 but when opportunity offers1 for instance1 to save themselves the trouble of long and steep descents on snowy mountain slopes1 they greatly enjoy the fun4 ,i have seen ,tibetans slide on their backs at a terrific pace for a hundred or two hundred yards down precipitous inclines1 laughing and yelling1 with their heavy sheepskin coats collected in front1 and their legs up in the air except when required for steering purposes4 ,with the exception of the above1 ,i do not recollect seeing any other national sport2 nor1 as a matter of fact1 do ,tibetans indulge much in sports of any kind--partly owing to the great altitudes which they inhabit1 where violent exercise leads to considerable personal discomfort and suffering2 partly because of a somewhat depressed nature4 ,although not always devoid of considerable humour1 the ,tibetan can seldom be roused from his normal sulkiness and made to put forth superfluous exertion either for his own delectation or that of others4 ,also1 the nomadic existence which he leads from one end of the year to the other1 is full of ever present wild excitements and surprises4 ,he often travels over snowy passes several thousand feet higher than the highest mountains of ,europe1 where precipices and avalanches and land-slides or falling rocks are of daily occurrence1 and any devised sport becomes in comparison rather tame and uninteresting4 ,naturally1 there is no such thing in ,tibet as training to be an athlete1 nor are the few sports and games specially taught to the children4 ,they are merely picked up from one generation to the other by imitation4 ,the ,tibetan is extremely hardy and wiry4 ,amusements which are the result of prosperity and happiness are not plentiful in ,tibet4 ,playing cards and dice and a primitive sort of chess1 and one or two more elaborate games imported from ,china and ,nepal1 are occasionally to be seen2 but perhaps the most interesting to us is their dancing1 notably their war-dances1 curious in people so little martial4 ,with a sword in one hand and a kata in the other1 and with the knees bent1 the dancers keep time to the beating of a double drum and the clapping of hands from the spectators4 ,they attempt some more or less clumsy revolutions on their heels1 but the movements of their arms are quite graceful4 ,alternately each bent arm is raised in front of the head1 while the other is held far back1 and they manage to give a pretty semi-rotary twist to both forearms and hands when they have reached the highest and lowest points respectively4 ,as the dancers and musicians get excited the movements of the arms and legs are greatly accelerated1 and some of the best dancers can move their limbs so quickly that on looking at them one's eyes get confused to such an extent that only a shapeless moving mass is distinguishable4 ,owing to the rarefied air1 they cannot1 however1 keep this up very long1 and1 panting1 their lungs in convulsion and eyes bulging out of their sockets1 they abruptly end the dance with a suggestive and humorous--often too humorous--posture1 or else with a leap in the air1 doubling up the body and resting the head upon the knees before the feet touch the ground again4 ,the most appreciated dancing1 from a ,tibetan point of view1 is when the performer can continue his evolutions1 bringing his legs forward alternately with knees bent low and almost touching the ground4 ,in a way1 this dance is not unlike ,russian peasant dancing4 ,the best dancers give solo performances1 while the rest join in a circle round and round them until they get tired out and dizzy4 ,the women's dancing has precisely the same characteristics1 except that it is done with no sword4 ,only a kata is held in the right hand1 and the contortions are less exaggerated1 and1 therefore1 more graceful4 ,the abrupt end also is done away with1 together with odd posturing4 ,the women1 whenever ,i saw them dance1 usually danced singly to the accompaniment of softer and more sentimental music than was the case with the men4 ,they added sad1 melodious chanting to their movements1 weird and wild to a degree1 yet full of expression and quite pleasing to the ear4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,the ,tibetan in his normal life is occasionally an amusing being1 full of coarse humour1 and with a bounce which carries him through his existence4 ,when alone1 he is quiet in his manner1 and will spend his leisure hours spinning wool or in some other such feminine occupation1 while his women-folk do all the hard work about the tent4 ,as will be seen by the illustrations in this book1 both ,tibetan men and women look clumsy and heavy4 ,anatomically1 they are well-built1 small but wiry1 and rather thickly set1 but very seldom with any great abundance of flesh and fat1 except the ,lamas1 who lead a lascivious and lazy life4 ,tibetan clothing is mostly responsible for the funny appearance they present1 men wearing sometimes three or four coats1 skin or woollen1 one on the top of the other4 ,the sash or belt1 which is intended to be at the waist1 is usually considerably lower down owing to the weight of the variety of articles the wearer constantly carries stored away round the waist in his outer coat1--wooden bowls1 balls of butter1 bags of tsamba1 a bundle of wool for spinning with the distaff1 the prayer-wheel1 and a quantity of rags1--which bulge out at the waist all round his body and drag down his coat4 ,this often gives them the appearance of being quite short-legged1 though1 of course1 they are not really4 ,men and women wear picturesque1 most comfortable and practical long boots1 the legging being usually red or white1 the thick soles of rope well protecting the foot all round4 ,these boots are largely manufactured in ,lhassa and ,shigatz1 but people also manufacture them themselves4 ,officials wear leather boots of the ,chinese type1 with thick wooden or leather soles with a few huge iron nails underneath and a curled-up toe4 ,among the coloured illustrations will be found paintings of ,tibetan women--from babyhood1 in an ample and striking robe of white and blue checks2 at the age of twelve1 with shaggy hair hanging down the back and shoulders and a sufficient collection of ornaments round the neck2 an older dame1 of middle class and age1 in her everyday costume1 with a sash enveloping nearly one-third of her body2 then a lady of rank and beauty1 fully decorated with amber necklace1 gold and malachite brooch1 elaborate earrings1 and a much-adorned aureole upon the head4 ,she sits modestly on bags of borax1 and displays feet of some considerable size4 ,well1 that is the fault of the ample and padded boots which she wears1 and not a fault of the foot inside--not small1 mind you1 but generally well-formed--nor of the painter who depicted the scene4 ,next we have a religious lady praying before a tent shrine1 turning her back to us and displaying in its full glory her ,tchukti--that is to say1 three broad bands of three sections each alternately blue and red4 ,these bands of heavy cloth reach from the shoulder to the feet1 and they are ornamented with coral or malachite beads1 silver coins and bells1 and at the lower end a row of little brass or silver bells is generally attached4 ,nearly all the money earned by the woman 7and frequently that of the husband7 is sewn on to the ,tchukti1 so that the family fortune--when this fortune exists--hangs down women's backs to a number of neat little tresses of the woman's hair to which it is attached4 ,when the ,tchukti is worn the hair is parted in the middle and plastered down with melted butter4 ,last1 but not least1 you will find the portrait of a ,tibetan old lady1 who somewhat resented being sketched and had not her sweetest smile upon her face4 ,rather bony and toothless1 with a wrinkled skin which would put to shame a crocodile1 one leg stretched out because she had a rheumatic pain and could not bend it1 she used quite bad language when ,i quickly portrayed her4 ,she predicted and wished misfortunes of all kinds which should descend upon me4 ,perhaps you will notice1 in most of the illustrations representing ,tibetans1 that the people depicted in them have their eyes half-closed4 ,this is one of the most characteristic points about a ,tibetan face1 especially when out of doors and conversing4 ,first of all1 as you know1 the ,mongolian eye is elongated between heavy lids1 and does not afford an extensive view of the iris at any time2 then1 owing to the intensely brilliant light1 the severe and constant winds1 and plentiful snow1 the natives get into the habit of accentuating the squeezing of the eye-aperture for protection4 ,this causes crow's-feet to appear on men and women at an early age1 and a much corrugated forehead and brow4 ,i had occasion on this journey to pay a visit to a quaint tribe of ,tibetans calling themselves the ,kam-par1 or people from ,kam 7,tibet74 ,they possessed extraordinary features--from intermarriage with some tribe of ,nepal1 ,i should think--intensely cruel faces in many instances2 others quite refined1 especially those of the better class4 ,the young man whose portrait ,i give1 very girlish-looking1 with an elaborate hat ornamented with gold embroidery1 was the son of the chief1 and quite a nice-looking boy1 with suave manners and a humble voice4 ,he had long hair in waves upon his shoulders1 and a short pigtail behind4 ,but some of the older men1 such as the one ,i portrayed1 had brutal faces1 and their manner was somewhat coarse1 sulky1 and blunt4 ,they possessed highly developed cheek-bones1 slits of eyes1 and prominent drooping lips4 ,the nose1 however1 was more developed than on other ,tibetans4 ,these people1 like most other ,tibetans1 practise a form of cannibalism which is not at all uncommon in ,tibet1 especially in their funeral ceremonies4 ,the ,lamas1 as is well known1 often drink human blood out of bowls made of human skulls4 ,this tribe1 a nomad one1 was1 among other employments1 given to a certain amount of brigandage2 and1 in fact1 among them ,i found a well-known brigand--a long-lost friend of mine--whose portrait ,i also give in these pages4 ,he possessed quite a striking-looking head1 with a good deal of determination upon his features1 a fierce moustache1 and masses of curly hair trimmed straight at the height of the shoulders4 ,he always shouted at the top of his voice whenever he spoke2 always heartily laughed at everything you said2 and1 to show his approval1 struck you upon your shoulder with his ponderous hand after each sentence4 ,he was one of the most powerfully built men ,i have ever met1 his strength being quite extraordinary2 and1 for a brigand1 quite an agreeable companion out of business hours4 ,polyandry1 when the wife is shared among brothers1 as is the case all over ,tibet1 is practised by this tribe also2 and when ,i met them they were employed in conveying salt and borax1 from ,gyanema over the ,darma ,pass into ,india4 ,these ,kam-par occasionally travel as far down as ,tanakpore1 the borax and salt being carried entirely on sheep-back4 ,when one got over the peculiar expression of their faces1 the ,kam-par were amiable enough4 ,their women were highly decorated with numerous brass ornaments with pendants1 and silver bracelets inlaid with malachite4 ,teeth of musk-deer were freely used as ornaments1 as well as being used for such useful purposes as picking one's teeth1 cleaning the nails1 and so on4 ,the chief wore his hair parted in the centre1 and plaited into small tresses which joined into a single pigtail behind4 ,the skin was of a sallow yellowish colour4 ,the upper portion of the eye1 as is often the case in people who are constantly exposed to a brilliant light1 was much discoloured1 and a peculiar whitish tinge veiled the entire iris of the eye4 ,in the way of clothing they showed a marked preference for bright red and yellow textiles1 and on their visits into ,kumaon they had invested their savings in buying old regimental brass buttons1 with which the women were freely ornamented4 ,bracelets of glass beads1 and also necklaces of coral and amber1 were displayed with pride4 ,these people had beautiful tents1 the inside being most comfortable1 with ,chinese carpets spread on the floor1 cushions to rest the head and back upon1 and cured skins spread everywhere where they might come in useful4 ,elaborate altars1 some double-tiered1 with as many as seven images of ,buddha1 were to be seen1 and upon them burning lights galore1 incense-sticks alight filling the tent with saintly fumes4 ,bags of butter and chura and sweet paste hung from every tent-pole4 ,all round the tent1 inside and also outside1 were high walls of double sacks of borax4 ,outside1 on high posts1 with an ingenious contrivance to prevent animals going up1 a lot of meat was prepared1 with salt1 in thin slices1 and exposed to the sun to dry4 ,as is always the case1 with this tribe too travelled a number of ,lamas1 who practically controlled everything4 ,one of these ,lamas had as repulsive and murderous a face as it is given to any human being to possess4 ,true enough1 his first boast was that he had killed three people 7the natives said a good many more74 ,his manner towards the people was most brutal4 ,he was a tall man of marvellous muscular development1 and between his most repulsive lips1 which never seemed to close1 he displayed a set of most powerful long pointed teeth1 such as those one would see in a wild animal4 ,his head-gear consisted of a vizor made of long1 bristly hair--not unlike the half of a chimney-sweeper's brush--which he fastened round the forehead and back of the head with a string4 ,this gentleman was inclined to be overbearing1 even intrusive2 and1 to show his courage as well as muscular power 7possibly to frighten me71 he thumped and knocked about his people in a merciless manner1 always taking care to select the helpless and weaker ones4 ,his brutality irritated me considerably4 ,i was standing near his tent1 and he came in with a long knife--he had been making himself a stick to beat the people with4 ,he was still foaming with rage4 ,there was a woman1 his servant1 sitting near the fire1 and he asked her whether the tea was ready in the raksang4 ,she replied it was not1 upon which he administered a terrific kick in her stomach which would have killed any woman but a ,tibetan4 ,i could stand no more4 ,i seized my rifle by the muzzle and applied the butt upon his face in a fashion which somewhat flattened his nose more than it originally was and loosened some teeth4 ,all bullies are cowards in any country1 and he made no reply whatever4 ,no doubt ,i shall be blamed--as ,i have been before--for administering my own justice in other people's countries1 but ,i cannot help feeling that the weak should ever and at any cost be protected against unwarranted attacks of the brutally strong4 ,another similar1 but more comical1 incident--one of many--occurred another day1 when a shapeless figure1 almost bent over in two and walking unsteadily upon his feet1 approached my camp4 ,we were in a barren1 desolate spot1 cold and dreary1 and my men had put up chokdens of stones all round the camp4 ,the queer stranger had a most comical appearance1 his waist down to his knees1 so full was his coat with stores of all kinds4 ,he bowed profusely1 his shaggy hair flying--as much as it could fly1 for it was so dirty and entangled--in the breeze4 8,who are you and what do you want80 we asked him4 8,i am a poor1 poor man1 with no food and no friends40 ,i well knew this to be a lie1 as ,i had had similar visitors before4 ,he was a mere ,tibetan spy--a soldier in the disguise of a beggar1 to come and find out all about us4 8,what do you want80 8,i am hungry and have pains in my inside for lack of food40 ,i ordered my cook to give him plentiful meat and rice and some sweet paste4 ,a little of it he ate2 the rest he stored away in his coat1 wrapped up in dirty rags4 8,is there anything else you want80 8,yes1 ,i would like some tchah 7tea740 ,a jug of tea was handed him4 8,anything else you wish from us now80 we inquired of the ,tibetan1 who1 while pretending to sip the tea1 was counting the number of my men1 was trying to see how many rifles we had1 and was taking in everything all round with his ferreting eyes4 ,but although he was a splendid actor1 his infirmities1 ,i had detected at once1 were all put on for the occasion4 8,can ,i be allowed to prowl around your camp and see what ,i can pick up--anything you have thrown away80 8,yes1 certainly2 but mind you do not pick more than you expect40 ,the man crawled about camp--,i ordered my men to pretend not to notice him--while ,i observed him closely1 all the time pretending to be busy writing4 ,by means of a small looking-glass ,i could watch his movements even when he was behind me4 ,the fellow was examining all my baggage carefully1 and especially our rifles which lay about4 ,having persuaded himself that none of us were looking at him1 he raised the flap of my tent and had a good look inside4 ,when he had finished his inspection he came to bid me good-bye4 8,have you had all you want1 do you think80 ,i asked him4 8,yes1 indeed4 ,he was grateful4 ,he now wanted to go40 8,before you go1 ,i want to give you a remembrance to teach you that when you accept people's hospitality you should not practise treachery40 ,snatching out of his hand a long stick he carried1 ,i applied to him a good beating--not that it hurt him much1 because he was so padded with articles he had stored in his coat4 ,in fact1 in trying to struggle away1 his sash got undone and he dropped a number of little bags containing tsamba and butter1 provisions which were evidently intended to last him several days on his spying expedition4 ,also two daggers4 ,my men1 who entered fully into the spirit of the joke1 chased him out of camp with a well-directed shower of stones4 ,needless to say1 8the starving ,tibetan cripple0 outran them all4 ,from a high point of vantage ,i watched him with my telescope4 ,when some distance off he went among some rocks1 picked up his matchlock which he had hidden there--and continued his flight4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,as you know1 the ,tibetans when saluting put out the tongue to its full extent4 ,if they are wearing a cap it is removed and placed upon the ground in sign of respect1 especially if the person saluted is of high social standing4 ,the hands1 joined with the thumbs together and raised1 are waved up and down in front of the forehead4 ,there is a code of social etiquette among ,tibetans even of the most degraded tribes4 ,for instance1 it is not customary to enter a tent without first announcing one's presence and demanding admittance4 ,also1 no ,tibetan traveller1 except ,government messengers1 will enter an encampment after dark unless he has warned the inhabitants beforehand4 ,it must not be argued that because the officials of ,tibet--the ,lamas particularly--show intense cruelty1 especially to foreigners1 everybody in ,tibet is cruel4 ,on the contrary1 there are many folks in ,tibet who possess generous hearts4 ,the people are charitable to a degree1 even the poorest sharing what little they have with strangers poorer than themselves4 ,during my captivity in ,tibet1 on my first expedition1 on many occasions individual ,tibetans showed sympathy and consideration1 when1 had it been discovered1 it would have cost them their heads4 ,so that1 after all1 not all ,tibetans are bad4 ,if anything--barring the ,lamas--the people are rather good-natured and easygoing1 easily led and influenced if taken the right way4 ,tibetan men are not fighting men1 and are1 perhaps1 the most contemptible cowards in face of danger4 ,curiously enough1 it is not fear of death which makes them pusillanimous1 but apparently the notion of getting hurt and the absolute lack of resolution4 ,if ordered by his superiors and impressed with the idea that if killed by the enemy he will find himself in heaven1 whereas if he bolts and returns to camp he will be beheaded and go to a hell of ice and snow--yes1 the ,tibetan hell is a cool place2 but their heaven is warm1 with splendid grazing for yaks6--then1 indeed1 a ,tibetan will stand helplessly to be shot without defending himself1 while ,maxim guns and shrapnel and other things of the kind are playing upon him4 ,the carnages of the ,british ,tibet ,mission1 of which we importers of civilisation should not feel too proud1 are a good instance of this4 ,so1 again1 although a contemptible coward1 he does not fear death4 ,i myself1 while in ,tibet1 could confirm this statement by many personal experiences4 ,when officials came to induce me to leave the country they maintained1 and it was true1 that they had strict orders from ,lhassa to drive me away4 ,if they returned unsuccessful from their mission they would1 they declared1 be beheaded4 ,when ,i insisted on continuing my journey they frequently handed me their sword1 requesting me to cut off their head then and there1 which would save them the dishonour of degradation and a public execution4 ,once or twice1 as the ,tibetans on my first journey had given me a taste of what it felt like to be taken out to the execution ground and have a sword flourished round my neck1 ,i thought that ,i was fully entitled to try a practical joke and see what effect the similar sensation would have on ,tibetan officers4 ,only1 of course1 in my case ,i had not asked to be beheaded1 and therefore the process came more as a surprise1 besides being carried out in dead earnest up to1 but fortunately with a postponement of1 the last stroke4 ,to go on with my narrative1 ,i pretended to accept the offer of the ,tibetan officers1 and1 calling all my men1 lined them up to witness the execution4 ,the ,tibetan officers knelt down1 somewhat trembling but quite resigned1 and cleared their necks to make my work easy4 ,many of them did not flinch1 but some did when ,i approached1 brandishing the sword in their own fashion2 and1 by ,jove6 the latter proved themselves to be the champion runners of the country4 ,naturally1 ,i never injured these fellows in any way1 and when they showed any determination at all ,i always gave them a suitable present of some sort or other4 ,after the performance was over they fully entered into the humour of the joke themselves1 and we used to have very hearty laughs over it1 and endless cups of tea4 ,when you travel in ,tibet you see1 in the daytime1 men and women garbed in heavy skin coats2 only one sleeve at a time is put on while half the chest and the other arm are left bare4 ,this1 to any one not suspecting the reason1 looks very incongruous1 and has led to all sorts of ridiculous explanations from the usual theoretical scientists at home4 ,the real explanation is simple and is this4 ,as ,i have elsewhere explained1 the heat of the sun is in ,tibet very great--especially in ,southern ,tibet1--the latitude not being many degrees north1 and the power of the sun's rays is even intensified by the clearness of the rarefied air4 ,on the other hand1 owing to the immense elevation1 the cold is intense wherever the sun does not strike1 so that it is not uncommon to feel absolutely roasted on the sunny side and frozen on the other4 ,hence the necessity of having winter clothing to cover half your anatomy1 while the other half demands nothing more than tropical bareness4 ,the ,tibetans are not artistic by nature4 ,their art is of the most rudimentary kind4 ,a few earthen pots1 graceful enough in shape1 but of no extraordinary beauty1 are manufactured by them1 and some brass and iron vessels are made in the cities4 ,also1 of course1 in a population of several millions there have been a few individuals who have attempted more ambitious works of art1 such as paintings 7mostly of religious subjects7 and sculptures1 but although in the paintings the colouring is bright1 and much care is devoted to details1 anatomical accuracy and proportion are always lacking in the figures1 and not even a shade of perspective is to be noticed in their landscapes4 ,in certain conventional decorative ways1 however1 the ,tibetans are quite masters1 as1 for instance1 in the gigantic religious inscriptions one frequently finds all over the country upon dangerous vertical cliffs4 ,one of the coloured plates given in this book represents a young ,lama--the ,lamas can always be distinguished in ,tibet by their clean-shaven heads--inscribing the words 8,om mani padme hum0 upon the face of a rock4 ,the work is carried on at a great height1 the artist being suspended in a rope sling4 ,lamas with any special talent in this direction are kept in monasteries and sent all over the country to adorn the barren landscape1 especially on high caravan routes1 with these sacred characters4 ,perhaps1 when ,tibet has been fully opened to foreign civilisation1 these talents will find a more remunerative occupation in substituting for the sacred words advertisements of fancy soaps and hair restorers4 ,these sculptors1 and1 in fact1 most of the cleverer ,tibetans1 are practically ambidexter1 being able to use either hand1 especially in works which require no great delicacy of touch4 ,as can be seen in the illustration1 the young ,lama is using the hammer with his left hand4 ,the cloth made by ,tibetans is of great strength1 especially fabrics of yak hair1 but seldom of a handsome design4 ,very irregular designs are occasionally attempted1 but usually the ,tibetan woman is wise enough never to depart from the striped pattern4 ,tibetan fabrics are generally woven too narrow for any practical use in ,european countries4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,perhaps some of the experiences we had on our trip across country may interest the reader4 ,instead of returning by ,tinker we proceeded in a north-westerly direction1 employing an old man--a most peculiar fellow1 so wrinkled that he seemed almost mummified--who said he knew the way across the intricate ranges4 ,when we had nearly reached the summit of the range1 we came in for a very bad storm1 a regular blizzard1 and it delayed us for some hours4 ,my guide1 as is usual with guides1 lost his head1 and1 what was worse1 also his way4 ,we could not remain where we were1 and we could not see where we were going4 ,i took matters into my own hands1 and1 by compass1 tried to find my way to where ,i supposed the place was2 but we experienced great difficulty in getting along1 owing to the snow being driven with great force into our faces and obscuring the view a few yards away from us4 ,i found the pass right enough1 the blizzard abating for a few moments1 and we sank in soft snow up to our knees1 which made marching very heavy4 ,we descended a few hundred feet and found ourselves in a sort of gully1 which necessitated making another ascent to a higher and more difficult pass before we could descend into the valley where the sources of the ,ganges are to be found4 ,night was coming on fast1 my men were in a pitiable condition from fatigue and cold1 and the wind blew the ground-snow--frozen into grains like sand--in regular whirlwinds round us1 which pretty well blinded us4 ,i was ahead of my party with two men1 struggling up the steep incline1 when some of those in the rear shouted that three of my men had remained behind and were missing4 ,they were no longer answering the signals we constantly made in order not to lose one another4 ,this necessitated a long delay and a search being made for them4 ,one of the pictures in this book shows us shouting to them in order to find their whereabouts1 but we shouted ourselves hoarse and got no answer4 ,i detailed two of my best men to go back to find them1 and provided them with extra blankets1 as they would very likely spend the night up there and not catch us up till the next day4 ,i also left the mummified guide with them4 ,we went on and eventually got over the higher and more difficult pass before it got too dark1 the wind blowing so hard that we had at times great difficulty in proceeding against it4 ,the descent was most dangerous1 the snow was treacherous1 and when we got lower down we got among a lot of loose boulders and dangerous sheets of ice1 which gave us no end of trouble4 ,we were benighted1 and it got so dark that we did not see where we were putting our feet1 which1 half-frozen as they were1 constantly got jammed and knocked and bruised4 ,some of the rounder boulders frequently rolled under us as we trod on them1 and caused us very nasty falls4 ,at each step we unavoidably started a regular landslip of rocks and dbris1 rolling down the steep mountain side1 the fracas of which1 with the howling of the wind1 made quite a diabolical noise4 ,the lower we got1 the warmer it became1 and1 of course1 the snow lessened and eventually disappeared4 ,we travelled for a long distance along the bed of a river1 and1 farther on1 upon what seemed the ancient bed of a lake1 an immense1 flat stretch of gravel4 ,having got among some big boulders1 which necessitated a lot of fatiguing work on all fours1 one of my men1 in trying to help me to get down a big rock1 slipped1 and dragged me with him1 a jump of some #ae feet4 ,as ,i fell on my back1 ,i was considerably shaken1 while my man injured his arm rather badly4 ,a little later1 having reached the camping ground of ,dongan1 we halted and pitched our tents at four o'clock in the morning4 ,it was not till late in the day that the missing men and those sent to their relief arrived in a pitiable condition4 ,they had been compelled to abandon two loads4 ,one man was badly frost-bitten1 another taken with such violent cramps and pains in his inside that ,i had grave fears for his recovery4 ,he had to be carried1 which involved a terrible tax on my other men1 who were all much worn and footsore4 ,our march the previous day had been over twenty-two miles4 ,dongan was only #ad1ajj feet above sea-level1 and we felt comparatively comfortable and warm4 ,we had three high peaks to #hj1 #ajj1 #abe b4m41 and to the north-west was the ,lippu ,lekh1 #af1ghj feet4 ,i revisited the source of the ,ganges1 a pretty little spot where a limpid spring gurgles out from under a big boulder1 and forms a crystal-like pool adorned with chokdens4 ,this water is deliciously cool1 and very nearly caused the death of three of my ,hindoo men4 ,they drank copiously while soaked in perspiration1 and washed themselves prior to eating their food4 ,they were seized with a colic accompanied by high fever1 and they groaned in their contortions upon the ground4 ,we applied massage freely and violent rubbing1 which1 with an additional quick cure of my own1 is very successful on such occasions2 and eventually--after some hours--they were able to continue1 although still suffering4 ,partly owing to the strain being over1 partly owing to the intense sufferings of the previous day1 and the excessive eating to celebrate the temporary end of our troubles1 three more men were taken very ill on our way up the ,kuti valley1 and ,i had to send them down into ,garbyang4 ,i was now again in ,bias1 a portion of the country practically ceded that year by the ,british ,government to ,tibet4 ,in fact1 ,tibetan emissaries had been in all the villages--,gungi1 ,nabi1 ,ronkan1 and ,kuti--imposing upon the natives in every way1 claiming taxes and proclaiming ,tibetan sovereignty4 ,at ,kuti1 where ,i arrived1 as usual1 in the middle of the night1 owing to the long marches we did daily1 ,i had the surprise and pleasure of meeting ,nattal again1 one of the strongest-willed1 noblest-minded1 pluckiest1 and sweetest little ladies ,i have ever met4 ,she was a ,kutial ,shoka1 and as pretty as they make them4 ,her grace of manner1 her inconceivable thoughtfulness and absolute purity of thought were enough to put to shame many a woman of more civilised countries4 ,being a lady of wealth1 for a ,shoka--for her husband was one of the big traders of the district--she owned the finest house in ,kuti4 ,she would not hear of our remaining under canvas1 and insisted on evacuating the house to let us occupy it4 ,not only that1 but the poor thing sat up half the night to prepare sweets and all sorts of luxuries for our benefit1 and ,i had a great struggle the next day--even the sweetest woman can be obstinate--to make her accept a sufficient remuneration for her trouble4 ,both ,tibetan emissaries and men from the ,british ,political ,agent were hiding in the village in order to attempt wrecking my expedition and stirring the natives up against me2 in fact1 the people were most turbulent in the morning1 and ,i thought we should come in for a good fight4 ,we had to knock about some of the villagers1 who seemed morose and inclined to give trouble1 and at one moment it looked as if a general battle might result4 ,stones were thrown at us1 and we thought we had better disperse the crowd before it got too formidable4 ,while my men pounded away on some of the more excited folks and drove them back1 ,nattal stood by me and gave her rebellious countrymen such sonorous cracks on the head with a heavy stick--heavens6 was she not quick with her hands6--that ,i had to sit down on a stone1 in convulsions of laughter4 ,then she even persuaded a number of ,kutials to enter my employ and accompany me4 ,others who refused to come she called cowards1 spat upon them1 and again gave them a taste of the stick4 ,i liked her very much for that4 ,a relative of hers1 whom she particularly warned to be faithful to me1 proved himself one of the most hard-working and devoted followers ,i have ever had4 ,i well remember her1 the day we left4 ,she1 with a great many villagers1 came to accompany us to the boundary of their village1 a high point from which an extensive view is obtained of the upper course of the ,kuti ,river along which we were to travel4 ,having bade us a melancholy good-bye--for she had a presentiment that we should have great trouble before us--she sat herself upon a rock1 resting her placid little face upon her hands1 and she remained watching us until we were out of sight4 ,every now and then we waved our hands at her1 and her little arm waved a parting salute against the bright line of the sky4 ,that was the last we saw of ,nattal4 ,by a most remarkable coincidence1 as ,i sat down in my ,london rooms to jot down these words for publication--now five years later1--as ,i was writing the word 8,nattal0 upon the paper a letter from ,india was handed to me4 ,on opening it1 it contained the sad news that ,nattal was dead4 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the corrected elevation of the ,kuti village by boiling-point thermometers is #ab1eed feet--possibly one of the highest villages in the world4 ,it was my intention to go up the ,kuti ,river in a north-west direction and cross over the ,lebung ,pass into the ,darma district1 in the northern part of which ,i wanted to explore some glaciers and passes4 ,the way up the ,kuti ,river was naturally very rough1 but we had no great difficulty2 and as my own men were refreshed1 and ,i also had excellent additional followers and lavish food for everybody1 everything went well enough until we reached ,jolinkan4 ,the ,government chaprassis whom ,i had taken prisoners were getting very anxious1 now that they saw before them another prospect of camping on snow and ice1 and endeavoured to escape4 ,i stopped them in time1 and warned them very seriously4 ,with long1 depressed faces they swore they would not leave me till it pleased me to deliver them in person to their superior officer4 ,we had brought up some sheep1 carrying loads of food1 and their services answered a double purpose4 ,when the loads were consumed the transport animals provided nourishing diet for my men4 ,our camp at the foot of the ,lebung ,pass was #ad1iac feet above sea-level4 ,we here abandoned the ,kuti ,river1 and after a good night's rest proceeded to ascend the ,lebung ,pass1 by which we were to cross the high range separating the valley of ,darma from that of the ,kuti ,river4 ,along this range1 a spur from the ,himahlyan main backbone running somewhat tortuously in a general south-east direction1 are several peaks rising to great elevations3 #bj1gfj feet1 #bj1bej feet1 #bj1cbd feet1 #bj1chf feet1 #bj1cbh feet1 #bj1bfd feet1 #bj1dee feet4 ,the ascent on the east side was very steep1 but presented no great difficulty1 although my men suffered considerably owing to having over-eaten themselves the previous night and in the morning before starting4 ,on the pass1 #ai1jaf feet1 we erected a cairn1 and ,i took observations on most of my men4 ,they nearly all suffered from mountain sickness1 and the pulse of all was much accelerated4 ,the highest registered #abf1 #aah1 #acd1 #ajh pulsations4 ,the average pulsations of these men at the altitude where they lived was from #ff to #ij4 ,the usual symptoms were present3 a very warm forehead1 pains and vigorous thumping at the temples1 pressure and aches in the top and back of head4 ,curiously enough1 when the pain in the temples was only on one side1 it was generally on the right side of the head4 ,occasionally this pain extended all along the posterior fissure of the cranium4 ,heart-throbbing as well as thumping in the centre of the chest were general1 and great sleepiness and exhaustion prevailed among them4 ,the pupils of the eyes were abnormally contracted1 almost to the size of the point of a pin4 ,when we had rested sufficiently we found ourselves confronted with rather a trying task4 ,on the other side of the pass of rotten rock1 several hundred feet in height1 not unlike what we had met on the ,savage ,pass1 was a precipitous wall1 requiring somewhat of a steady head and endless labour in getting over4 ,perhaps a glance at the illustration depicting the scene will give a better idea of the situation than a long description4 ,my men can be seen conveying down the baggage--a most tedious and long performance1 each package being passed down from one man to another stationed at intervals along the vertical rock4 ,as the distance was considerable and the men few1 each man had to undergo considerable exertion and a lot of climbing up and down to collect from the man above and deliver each load to his neighbour below4 ,so that to go those few hundred yards took us several hours4 ,the sheep accompanying us1 too1 had to be carried down one by one1 and in some places let down by means of rope slings4 ,we had passed a small glacier on the east watershed of the pass1 and now we had below us to the south-west the great ,lebung ,glacier1 feeding the ,dholi ,ganga by two or three streamlets4 ,we skirted it to the north on a lot of dbris4 ,the main portion had a general direction from north-east to south-west1 then an arm extended due west4 ,in the latter portion of the glacier were big cracks in the ice1 while to the north-west was an immense dune of ice1 mud1 and dbris1 forming a line from #cj to #bca4 ,from this point of observation the ,lebung ,pass stood at #baj b4m4 ,there were fine terraces in this glacier1 supported on a high wall of ice and mud4 ,to the south-east could be seen one of the high snowy peaks towering over the ,rama ,glacier to the south of the ,lebung4 ,the ,darma ,valley1 in which we now found ourselves1 takes its name from the ,darma ,yangti1 a river which has its birth at the foot of the ,lumpiya ,pass1 and is further fed by the tributary streams from glaciers on either side4 ,the ,darma ,parganah was of some interest to me1 as one of the minor routes into ,tibet was along this river4 ,darma proper was divided into two divisions3 the ,malla and the ,talla1 or 8upper0 and 8lower10 ,darma4 ,the ,malla ,darma is that portion which comprises the ,lissar ,river and the ,dholi ,ganga1 whereas the ,talla ,darma1 as its name suggests1 lies nearer to the point at which the ,dholi ,ganga meets the ,kali ,river4 ,the ,darma ,shokas1 a tribe somewhat differing from the ,shokas of ,bias and ,chaudas1 carry on the entire trade with ,tibet by the ,darma route4 ,gyanema is the main centre1 and the commodities are chiefly borax1 salt1 wool1 skins1 cloth1 and utensils1 in exchange for which the ,tibetans receive silver1 wheat1 rice1 sattoo1 ghur1 candied sugar1 pepper1 beads of all kinds1 and a few articles of ,indian manufacture4 ,it was getting towards the end of ,september when ,i was in this region1 and the weather was very cold and stormy4 ,we had plenty of snow every night and the winds were cutting4 ,it was a great temptation1 ,i must confess1 when we reached the ,dholi ,river1 to turn towards the south1 which would bring us to lower elevations and therefore to warmth and comfort2 but my work was not finished1 and we had again to go towards the north 7,n4,n4,w41 to be strictly accurate71 for ,i wished to solve certain geographical problems and visit some passes into the ,forbidden ,land which ,i had not yet ascended4 ,we camped that night at a dreary spot called ,gankan 7#ab1bie feet71 where we expected to find some traders1 this being one of their temporary stations1 but did not4 ,so we fared rather badly4 ,we could find no fuel1 and the supply which they generally bring up with them was quite exhausted4 ,all the trading with ,tibet was now over from this side1 and everybody had retired southward4 ,two stray sheep--one dead1 the other still alive but with broken legs--were lying near the wall which marked the favourite spot for a camping-ground4 ,we passed a very chilly night1 and the next day when we woke snow was falling heavily4 ,my men seemed to be sufferingly greatly1 and ,i decided to ask for two volunteers to accompany me and carry my instruments to the glaciers northwards1 the remainder of the expedition proceeding one march southward1 to a place where fuel could be obtained1 and awaiting our return there4 ,we three started off in a fierce wind at six o'clock in the morning1 and passed three small glaciers to the east--the ,suiti1 ,pungrung1 and ,mangti4 ,to the west were five other smaller glaciers4 ,we had gradually risen to #ae1jjj feet1 and farther on1 at the foot of the ,nui ,glacier1 at the spot known as the ,nui ,encamping-ground1 the altitude was #af1iej feet4 ,it was at this place that1 in the mist and snow1 we saw the immense image of what seemed a conventional crouching lion sculptured in the rock4 ,on approaching it1 however1 the illusion was explained4 ,the main body--as ,i have already explained--was merely a gigantic boulder1 while the extended paws and tail were mani walls with end chokdens built away from the rock4 ,from a certain point of view it looked exactly like a lion4 ,this being the last camp before traders attempt the high pass1 many chokdens of all sizes are to be seen all over the valley and on the hill-side4 ,one of the peculiarities of these chokdens is that they are as much as possible built with white or light-coloured stones4 ,the wind had got much worse as we got higher1 and the effort of walking was considerable4 ,we had gone some eleven miles1 and my two men were so exhausted they were unable to continue4 ,they dragged along uncomplainingly1 but ,i could see that they were on the verge of breaking down4 ,at the foot of the ,nui we had some food1 and having laden myself with all the necessary instruments and cameras--quite a considerable weight--left my two men to await my return1 while ,i went alone to survey the ,nui ,glacier and climb the high pass4 ,once alone1 ,i proceeded at a greater speed1 but the ground was much broken by huge boulders1 and to cover a short distance involved a lot of labour4 ,about one mile and a half from where ,i had left my men ,i came in for an experience which ,i did not quite expect at that moment1 although1 fortunately1 ,i was prepared for any emergency4 ,the ,tibetans had had time to prepare a great many snares for me1 and to send soldiers to all the passes1 and what they could not do by facing me direct they attempted as usual to accomplish by treachery4 ,much to my astonishment in this desolate region1 ,i came upon a ,tibetan comfortably seated upon the ground1 upon which he had spread several coats4 ,i asked him if he were alone1 and he said yes4 8,what are you doing here80 8,i am going back to my country4 ,my friends went ahead yesterday40 8,surely you have some one with you2 you cannot carry all those coats and paraphernalia80 8,no1 no no2 ,i am quite alone40 ,as ,i was standing talking to him ,i noticed that his eyes were looking at something behind me1 and on turning round found myself confronted with three ,tibetans1 who had evidently crawled out from behind rocks where they were hidden4 ,they made a dash to seize my rifle as ,i unslung it from my shoulders1 but they were not quick enough4 ,in a second the fourth fellow--the one sitting down--had jumped up to help his companions4 ,one fellow got somewhat of a dent in his skull with the butt of my rifle1 the others1 unluckily1 ran away1 and ,i did not pursue them1 as ,i needed all the strength ,i possessed to go up the pass4 ,as the ,tibetans disappeared in the direction ,i had come ,i became rather alarmed for my men1 lest they should be taken by treachery1 but ,i knew they could take care of themselves4 ,after taking a rest1 for the violent exertion had caused me a deal of panting and blowing1 ,i continued4 ,i soon got out of the dbris and boulders1 where ,i proceeded with great caution1 and got upon the snow on the north side of the glacier4 ,for real majestic beauty the ,nui ,glacier cannot be surpassed4 ,it has immense terraces of clear greenish ice1 quite regular and well padded with snow on the surface2 gigantic crevasses1 down which one was almost afraid to look1 and a background of huge white sharp-edged peaks1 like the teeth of a saw1 so white indeed that the stormy sky beyond looked as black as ink4 ,it was truly one of the most impressive scenes ,i have ever set eyes upon4 ,i never feel very big on any occasion1 but ,i do not remember ever feeling quite so small and humble and insignificant as ,i did on that particular occasion--a mere speck1 a mere black spot1 disturbing the peaceful harmony of the grandiose landscape4 ,i have attempted to depict the scene in one of the illustrations1 but no brush nor canvas can satisfactorily reproduce the immensity of those white mountains towering around you1 the incalculable masses of snow1 the almost terrifying appearance of the immense cracks in the ice hundreds of feet deep4 ,it gave you a certain feeling of loneliness and helplessness in case of mishap1 and it really made you think a good deal of how small are human beings and how puerile all their works1 when compared to those accomplished by the hand of ,nature4 ,i think it would be a good thing if a great many other authors--not to speak of our critics1 who need it even more--could have an opportunity of experiencing the sensation of humility ,i had upon me that day4 ,but1 humble or not1 ,i went on and on1 like a tiny little ant upon the immaculate and endless white carpet of snow1 and higher and higher ,i gradually rose upon the mountain side towards the ,nui ,pass4 ,panting and blowing1 and with a feeling that ,i wanted to throw away the rifle and cartridges and cameras and instruments that ,i was lugging up with me--oh1 they were such a weight6 always in the way1 and ever dangling where you did not want them1--,i got higher along a narrow furrow so steep as to be almost vertical4 ,i went up for a time on loose rocks which gave way under me1 and were most trying to the temper4 ,one could not help constant falling1 and one's poor fingers and toes got jammed to a pitiable extent4 ,overhead a storm was brewing which promised to be of the very worst kind2 but luckily in the last portion of the ascent ,i was screened somewhat from the cutting wind4 ,getting up to the top was a terrible effort1 carrying all my paraphernalia1 but at last1 in a desperate struggle1 ,i managed to get there4 ,the ,nui ,pass itself1 as can be seen by the drawing ,i give in these pages1 is a very narrow opening1 in parts quite free from snow owing to its steepness and to being so boxed in4 ,besides1 on the south side1 by which ,i ascended1 it is rather more covered1 because the snow is generally driven with much fury from the north4 ,in fact1 when ,i reached the summit and proceeded for some distance on the ,tibetan side 7north aspect71 the mountain was thickly padded with uninterrupted snow4 ,the wind was so fierce up there that it knocked me clean off my feet twice4 ,now came the tedious job of boiling water in the hypsometrical apparatus to ascertain the altitude1 and taking whatever photographs and sketches ,i found possible4 ,but ,i had no sooner begun to unpack my instruments in a sheltered nook than the storm broke out in all its violence1 and the snow1 driven with tremendous force by the wind into my face1 felt just like hundreds of needles and nails thrown at me4 ,i wasted two entire boxes of matches in setting the hypsometrical stove alight1 and to accomplish this ,i had to protect it with my coat1 of which ,i had divested myself4 ,i have never envied the ,chinese gods with a hundred arms more than ,i did on this occasion1 for one's two hands were required in twenty places at the same time1 the wind blowing everything about in a most reckless manner4 ,the water seemed to take ages to boil1 and the storm was getting worse and worse every moment1 almost freezing my poor hands1 nose and ears1 and giving me intense pain4 ,at last the welcome puff of steam began to escape from the apparatus2 the temperature of boiling water 7#agha7 and the temperature of the air 7#cj7 were duly registered1 and ,i repacked everything to make my descent4 ,the altitude--the correct one--of this pass in feet by hypsometrical apparatus was #ai1fba feet1 and two excellent aneroids ,i also carried registered #ai1fjj feet4 ,a great deal is to be said for and against aneroids4 ,in a few words1 this is my experience of them as regards work at great elevations4 ,unless you can get aneroids of tested excellence and the very best that money can procure1 you had better go without them4 ,very small aneroids may be more portable1 but they are never of any real use4 ,always carry your aneroids yourself1 and never let them go out of your sight if you want to keep them in good order1 and never rely on them too much except when constantly checked by boiling-point thermometers4 ,personally1 for important elevations1 ,i have relied entirely on boiling-point thermometers1 the only practical and less cumbersome way of accurately ascertaining heights for an explorer1 but ,i also always carry several aneroids1 two specially constructed for me to measure down to #ab inches--over #be1jjj feet--and ,i have invariably found them accurate4 ,i use them only for differential altitudes1 and for the less important observations4 ,,chapter ,,xix ,and now for the descent4 ,i was quite numbed with cold--you see1 a thin shirt only is not much protection against snow being driven into you with such force1 and even when ,i put on my coat again my teeth were chattering so that ,i thought they would break4 ,well1 ,i suppose that if ,i had been more muffled up and wearing heavy clothing ,i should have never got up there4 ,my legs and hands had nearly lost all feeling in them4 ,i loaded my rifle and all my instruments on my back1 also my straw hat which it was impossible to wear in the right place1 bade ,tibet a hearty 8good-bye10 and down ,i strode1 with somewhat disjointed steps1 by the way ,i had come4 ,the descent was rapid--a great deal too rapid--but partly to get away from the intense cold1 and the wind and the snow1 partly owing to the anxiety which ,i still felt regarding the safety of my two men ,i had left behind1 ,i really did not try to control my speed4 ,when ,i got among the loose rocks again1 which started a regular landslide at each step one took1 ,i came very near having an accident which might have had disastrous consequences4 ,a stone rolled under my foot--they nearly all did--and in slipping ,i got my right foot badly jammed between two large stones4 ,before ,i had time to get it off again1 several big stones came rolling with great force from above1 and one hit me so violently in the leg1 and on falling upon the other rocks squeezed my ankle with such pressure that ,i really thought my leg had been fractured4 ,fortunately it was not4 ,the pain was excruciating1 my feet being still half-frozen1 and ,i sat down1 rubbing the one foot to restore some life to it1 but it swelled considerably and hung like dead1 which caused me some little apprehension4 ,violent friction with snow ,i tried next1 and this seemed to bring some warmth and circulation1 but the pain was intense4 ,one fact was certain1 that it was getting late in the afternoon1 and that the ,nui ,pass was not the kind of place where ,i should care to be benighted1 so down ,i struggled1 limping badly1 and suffering agony every time the foot got jammed again1 which was at an average about every minute4 ,thank heavens6 ,i then got to the snow incline1 where ,i could practise some tobogganing1 which saved much time and labour1 and down ,i slid1 carefully regulating my speed upon the snow with my good leg4 ,you see1 if one had gone too fast one might have been shot into one of the big crevasses of the ,nui ,glacier down below1 and that ,i particularly wished to avoid4 ,partly through the strain of carrying up such a heavy load1 partly through the very little sleep ,i had obtained of late1 partly owing to the great glare of the immense white mountains before me during the day1 and also in a measure to the biting wind and snow--not to speak of the pain ,i was undergoing--the vision of the only good eye ,i possessed became affected and caused me additional trouble4 ,at moments my sight became obscured altogether4 ,there is no doubt that it is well worth going up any high mountain for the sake of the relief and satisfaction one experiences on coming down again1 and on no occasion did ,i feel this more strongly than upon that day4 ,when ,i got down to the glacier again--which spreads from east to west--,i felt much better1 and although still quite lame could proceed at a fair pace4 ,i hastened down to rejoin my two men1 for the evening was drawing in4 ,i took special care not to fall into another snare--as surely the ,tibetans might attempt some of their games again--but nothing happened4 ,nothing ever does when you are on your guard4 ,it was getting dark when ,i arrived at the spot where my two followers had remained1 and ,i shouted myself hoarse1 but got no reply4 ,i looked for them in several places where they might possibly be1 but ,i could find no signs of them4 ,again ,i shouted and shouted1 but no reply4 ,had they been murdered or had they gone away8 ,this was particularly tantalising1 because not only did ,i feel for their loss1 but ,i also wanted badly to get rid of the load ,i was carrying4 ,by a mere chance1 possibly suggested by my close observation of ,shoka ways1 ,i thought that1 before departing to rejoin the main portion of my expedition1 ,i would inspect some huge boulders some way off1 behind which the men in their long hours of waiting might possibly have taken shelter4 ,had they been there1 with the howling wind they could not possibly hear my voice4 ,in fact1 under the largest boulder1 where the melting snow had formed a hollow1 ,i discovered my two ,shokas wrapped up1 head and all1 in their blankets1 and snoring hard4 ,they had given me up for lost--although the idea did not disturb their sleep--and were waiting till the next morning to proceed up the glacier to look for me4 ,the four ,tibetans had tried to approach them1 pretending friendship1 but they wisely had driven them away with stones4 ,then1 for safety1 they had at sunset removed their quarters to a more secluded spot4 ,the distance from this spot to the ,nui ,pass and back was six miles4 ,the storm was still very bad1 snow was again falling plentifully1 and we decided that our best plan was to make a night march--long as it would be--and try to rejoin the others4 ,relieved of the weight of rifles and all1 ,i was able to get along pretty well1 except that after we had gone a couple of miles it got pitch dark1 and we stumbled against everything and got terribly jerked4 ,it snowed hard1 and the wind blew in all its fury4 ,we eventually came upon the faint trail1 now white with snow1 but on this it was considerably easier to proceed4 ,we travelled now on long stretches of flat country1 then upon an undulating1 even hilly1 portion of the valley1 occasionally resting for breath under the lee of some big rock1 and drawing freely on my supply of chocolate1 which one of my men carried4 ,towards midnight we reached an open space--one of the camping-grounds--called ,bedang1 where the ,tibetans have erected three extensive mani or sacred walls1 one with a number of images4 ,we got on the lee side of it1 and1 taking bundles of matches1 lighted them up to inspect the long row of coloured ,buddhas forming a cornice to the upper part of the wall4 ,there were dozens of these images1 evidently all made in the same mould1 and painted in combinations of yellow1 red1 and blue4 ,then there were large stones with the usual sacred inscription1 and flying prayers wherever they could be hung4 ,half-way between ,bedang and the ,nui camping-ground we had come across a number of chirams 7pyramids1 often tombs7 and chokdens4 ,by the time we had reached this sacred spot we were pretty well tired out and hungry1 but we had not sufficient blankets to go round nor food enough to make us feel really happy again4 ,we rested a while1 and before our limbs got numbed with cold we again started off on our dreary march to rejoin the main body of my party4 ,as we got lower down we came in for a violent shower of hail--the pellets being of such a size that they thumped rather too vigorously on our skulls--then torrents of rain4 ,we were simply soaked4 ,it cleared for a few moments1 and the moon shone for some seconds between two ugly black clouds--almost1 it seemed1 only to laugh at us4 ,indeed1 a moment later another downpour froze us to the marrow of our bones1 and it was all we could do to proceed at all4 ,there was1 fortunately1 a narrow trail here1 which we followed1 and which frequently overhung precipices of great height4 ,in several places the trail was actually resting on crowbars thrust into the face of the cliff4 ,we stumbled along1 but we were all so tired out that we really cared little what happened to us4 ,the hours seemed interminable4 ,at #c4cj ,a4,m4 we at last approached ,go village4 ,all the houses were shut up1 everything was as still as death1 until we got quite close4 ,then dogs barked furiously from every house1 and the noise was echoed from mountain to mountain4 ,the weather had somewhat cleared1 but nowhere could ,i discern my tents4 ,we shouted and yelled to rouse the head village man1 and eventually the scared figure of a ,shoka appeared1 lighted by a red blaze from a torch he carried in his hand4 ,he was jovial1 and most anxious to be of assistance4 ,although not absolutely1 ,i am1 practically1 a teetotaller1 as ,i seldom require stimulants1 but on that particular occasion ,i would have given all the money ,i possessed to have a glass--or1 better1 a bottle--of stout6 ,but1 alas6 the nearest bottle of stout was a great many days' journey from there4 ,chkti1 the native liquor1 was the only stuff procurable1 and ,i more than jumped at the offer when the chieftain suggested that we must drink some to be revived4 ,now1 there is nothing a ,shoka admires more in a foreigner than appreciation of the national chkti--an appreciation they seldom get1 for chkti is1 indeed1 the vilest concoction a human mind can conceive or a human throat swallow4 ,when the ,shoka and his torch disappeared we listened from the door with ever-increasing attention to noises of dangling keys being tried1 one after the other1 into a lock4 ,then came the snapping sound of the opening padlock1 next the loosing of the iron chain which is ever used in bolting ,shoka doors4 ,reproachful noises from the household1 interrupted in their sleep1 and remonstrative cries of female relatives1 could be heard at intervals2 then a long silence1 some rattling about1 and at last the chieftain reappeared1 triumphantly nursing a huge jug of the 8reviver40 8,will you drink it here or down in your tent80 he inquired1 with a twinkle in his eye4 8,in the tent10 ,i replied2 and we all went down to where my camp had been pitched4 ,my men sprang out from all sides on hearing my voice1 especially several of them who1 not expecting me back that night1 had thought fit to occupy my tent4 ,in a few moments the camp was alight with several blazing fires1 there being plenty of fuel at this place1 and from the village a string of figures with torches were running down1 bringing food1 more fuel1 milk1 and vegetables4 ,the natives of ,go were indeed most thoughtful and polite4 ,i had marched continuously for twenty-two and a half hours1 covering over forty miles1 the entire time over most difficult ground and at such great elevation that when ,i sat down upon my blankets ,i felt quite exhausted4 ,nor did devouring--the word eating is hardly expressive enough--several pounds of rice and meat and potatoes and plum-pudding and milk and chkti make me feel any better4 ,my appetite was insatiable1 and no sooner was my head laid on the pillow than ,i was fast asleep4 ,oh1 what a lovely sensation to go to sleep when you are so tired6 ,,chapter ,,xx ,we were already getting to lower elevations--the village of ,go being only #aj1egg feet4 ,we had to the west of us the great ,nanda ,devi1 the highest mountain in the ,british ,empire1 #be1ffj feet2 three pyramidal peaks1 with rock exposed in vertical streaks right up to the summit4 ,the central peak is ,nanda ,devi itself1 the next highest peak being #bd1cgi feet1 according to ,trigonometrical ,survey measurements4 ,there are several extensive glaciers to the east watershed of ,nanda ,devi1 mostly extending from west to east1 with a slight tendency northwards1 but on the western side of the watershed ,nanda ,devi is practically surrounded by an immense glacier with numerous ramifications4 ,there are a great many legends regarding this imposing mountain1 the principal one stating that on the shores of a lake which is supposed to exist on the very summit of ,nanda is the abode and present residence of ,vishnu4 ,the natives state that smoke is often seen rising from the summit1 which1 they say1 is caused by the god's kitchen4 ,some considerable distance below the summit1 as high as one can possibly climb1 a festival is held every twelve years1 but so difficult is the ascent that many pilgrims perish1 and only very few can reach the elevated spot4 ,those few are held in great respect by their fellow-countrymen4 ,nearer us than ,nanda ,devi and also to our west were two other giants 7#ba1ebj feet and #bb1ffj feet71 showing characteristics very similar to ,nanda ,devi4 ,the former had an immense glacier1 the ,naulphu1 on its eastern side1 with huge masses of clear ice of resplendent beauty when the sun shone on them4 ,the ice terraces were fairly regular1 much more so than in most other glaciers ,i had inspected4 ,at the bottom of the glacier1 in the centre1 was an immense wall of ice1 horse-shoe-shaped1 a most impressive sight as it stood out in brilliant relief above the dark-brown dbris of the terminal moraine4 ,the ,neo-lak-chan ,river has its birth from this glacier4 ,there were three or four picturesque little ,shoka hamlets along the river--especially near the spot where the ,lissar ,river1 fed by a number of glaciers to the north-west1 meets the ,dholi ,river1 which we have followed from the ,nui ,glacier to the north4 ,the village of ,dukti was quite attractive1 with houses painted white1 slate roofs1 and strongly built store-houses4 ,the trail mostly followed the course of the ,dholi ,river1 and was often boxed in between high vertical cliffs of grey rock1 along which the road was constructed on crowbars4 ,between the villages of ,bahling 7#aj1bcj feet7 and ,nagling 7#ihgf feet--h4a47 was another small but interesting glacier of dirty grey ice mixed with mud and dbris1 and a central and two side dunes4 ,a stream rose from it and became a tributary of the ,dholi4 ,from ,nagling to ,shobla there is a fair road1 and from ,sela1 about half-way between the two above villages1 it is possible to get over the mountains to ,kuti4 ,the way1 however1 is extremely bad1 and over a good deal of snow4 ,the journey occupies from three to four days4 ,from ,nagling southward the road was almost an identical replica of the ,nerpani--the waterless trail--,i had followed on the way out4 ,in many places it was supported on crowbars and we had a drop under us of several hundred feet4 ,as far as ,go from ,nui the trail was on the east side of the ,dholi ,river2 from ,go it was on the west side4 ,some two miles from ,shobla one got a charming bird's-eye view of this village1 with the river like a ribbon of silver winding its way between high mountains covered with luxuriant vegetation4 ,perhaps the beautiful deep green of the trees affected us all the more because we had been so long among barren1 desolate1 dreary landscapes1 and among snow and ice2 so that it was a regular feast for our eyes to see some signs of vegetation again4 ,the ,darma ,shokas1 like those of ,bias1 only inhabit these villages during the summer months1 retiring to warmer regions farther south 7mainly to ,dharchula7 for the winter4 ,hence1 a great many temporary sheds can be seen in all their villages1 wherein are stored their articles of furniture1 mats1 and clothing1 which they do not require when busy trading in the summer months4 ,in some spots the mountain side was simply dotted with these temporary store-houses4 ,as we were going towards ,khela1 where we should complete the circle of our journey and meet another contingent of my men who had proceeded there direct from ,nepal1 we had no further adventures worth mentioning1 except one4 ,we came to a strange cave1 only a few yards deep and some #cj feet high1 in the side of a hill4 ,the natives had told me that no animal could enter it without dying1 and1 in fact1 when we peeped into it we saw a number of skeletons of dogs1 other small mammals1 and birds4 ,on stooping down1 one of my men and ,i were immediately seized with giddiness and a fainting sensation1 and had we not been quick enough in jumping out into the open air we might have possibly collapsed1 owing to the noxious gases which emanated from the ground in the cave4 ,a peculiar sulphurous odour was noticeable1 even some little distance from the cave4 ,it is in its effects very much like the 8,grotta dei ,cani0 of ,naples1 only this one seemed more deadly4 ,the gases seem to hang low upon the ground1 not more than about #c or #c feet1 although on entering the cave one felt at once a stifling sensation1 even when standing upright4 ,we two who had stooped suffered from a severe headache for some hours4 ,before we leave the ,darma district1 a word on the history of the natives may be of interest4 ,the ,darma ,shokas are in many ways--and in facial appearance--very different from the ,shokas of ,chaudas and ,bias1 and1 although their origin is undoubtedly ,mongolian from ,tibet1 their traditions vary very considerably from those of the other ,shokas4 ,according to some authorities the ,darma ,shokas are the descendants of a horde of ,mughals who were endeavouring to take possession of ,kumaon during the time that ,timur was occupying a portion of that country4 ,this horde1 which is supposed to have entered ,kumaon from the plains and not over the mountains1 was eventually reduced to very small numbers1 and driven to the mountains1 where they finally settled1 practically undisturbed1 in the ,darma ,valley4 ,darma1 like the other ,shoka districts 7,bias and ,chaudas71 formerly belonged to ,tibet1 and it was not till the ,gorkhali administration that ,darma1 with ,bias and ,chaudas1 was annexed to ,kumaon4 ,even now1 as we have already seen1 the ,tibetans exercise a serious influence upon those natives1 the ,shokas of all these districts1 however willing to be faithful and loyal to us1 having never received protection nor the meagrest justice from the ,british ,government4 ,personally1 ,i do not quite share the opinion that the ,darma ,shokas came from the plains or from ,tibet by way of the plains4 ,they resemble quite closely the ,kam-par or ,tibetans from ,kam1 with whom they are to this day in constant communication4 ,in fact1 it is chiefly with the ,kam-par tribe and ,gyanema that the ,darma ,shokas do all their trading4 ,the more massive features and stronger facial characteristics of the ,darma ,shokas have been acquired1 ,i think1 more through their frequent intercourses with ,jumlis and other tribes of ,western ,nepal1 which gives them a wilder appearance than the more purely ,mongolian stolid types1 such as the ,bias ,shokas4 ,in many ways the ,darma ,shokas do not possess the refined and gentlemanly feelings so strikingly common among ,bias ,shokas1 nor are they quite so honest and reliable4 ,but they1 too1 possess good hearts1 are somewhat impetuous and excitable1 and occasionally addicted to murder4 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,from ,khela on the ,nepalese boundary1 where ,i found my men and pony--the latter had been safely taken back across the dangerous ,nerpani road--,i proceeded in all haste to ,almora4 ,i varied my journey slightly1 travelling by way of ,thal4 ,the roar of ,british officials had been very great while ,i was distant1 so ,i halted several days both in ,almora and ,naini-,tal1 the summer seat of the ,provincial ,government1 in order to give them opportunity of carrying out some of their threats4 ,nothing happened4 ,by way of ,bombay ,i returned to ,england1 and from there ,i sailed directly to ,america1 on my way to the ,chinese ,war4 ,perhaps the journey1 requiring as it did more than ordinary endurance1 did more to strengthen my former theories about travelling attendants than any journey ,i had taken before4 ,i invariably found that thoughtful and tactful kindness with my men and with strangers always paid better than harsh treatment4 ,it is all very well for the leader of an expedition not to mind this1 and not to feel that1 and1 if anything1 rather enjoy the fun of roughing it4 ,the interest which he--if of even moderate intelligence--must take in the study of the country1 the natives1 recording his scientific observations1 surveying1 photographing1 writing up his notes1 etc41 leave him but little time to worry over climatic conditions or the cooking4 ,but not so with the native followers1 who after their day's work is finished--and pretty tedious their day's work is--have nothing to employ their minds except the thought that another day of hardship is to follow4 ,the mind preys a good deal upon the entire system1 and when to mental depression you add every possible bodily inconvenience you can think of1 it is not unnatural that the men are inclined to break down4 ,first of all1 naturally1 ,i took great care to have my men well fed and clothed1 then the next and most important was to prevent them getting depressed when great difficulties were facing them4 ,many evenings1 when we did not make night marches1 ,i used to collect my men round my tent and entertained them with long descriptions of things in ,europe they had never seen1 such as ocean steamers1 8sky-scrapers10 railways1 electric light1 etc4 ,i am rather sorry that1 this publication being illustrated entirely by drawings done by hand1 ,i am not able to give an interesting photograph of a group of my followers whom ,i snapshotted as ,i was describing to them the wonders of civilisation4 ,the expressions of wonderment and keen interest were quite intense1 and show clearly in the photograph4 ,the men always looked for these nightly lectures1 and no matter how tired they were they generally collected round for me to tell them more4 ,this1 ,i think1 helped more to keep my men in good spirits--in very exasperating circumstances--than anything ,i could think of4 ,every topic would lead to endless discussions among them1 and most amusing controversies1 which enlivened their spirits1 anyhow till the next lecture4 ,natives always take the keenest interest in firearms and anything connected with them4 ,also in telescopes1 which they love4 ,i happened to possess a little camera which was not unlike a spy-glass4 ,i had given it to one of my men to carry--by the way1 to the fellow who saved my life on the top of ,lumpa ,mountain4 ,he could not get it out of his head that it was a glass1 and once or twice ,i caught him trying to survey the landscape with it4 ,one evening1 on my way down to ,almora1 we had reached camp1 and as ,i was sitting outside my tent ,i perceived the fellow walking away with my camera towards a cluster of trees some way off on the top of a hillock4 ,i watched him with the corner of my eye4 ,when he got there he climbed right to the top of the highest tree1 and as he clung with his folded legs to the branch1 swinging to and fro in the wind1 he unslung the camera and pulled it out of its case4 ,next1 as ,i expected1 he brought it up to his eyes and proceeded to scan the landscape4 ,unhappily for the camera1 the branch1 having swung rather too far beyond its limit of elasticity1 gave way1 and down came the man and precious instrument1 bounding from branch to branch until they bumped with some might upon the solid ground--the man1 of course1 on the top of the camera4 ,the camera he picked up in fragments1 besides destroying eighteen excellent negatives it contained4 8,what on earth did you do that for80 ,i asked of the ,shoka4 8,sahib10 he said1 rubbing his aching side1 8,i have longed for many a day to look through the durbin2 we ,shokas are to leave you to-morrow1 and ,i thought ,i would have no other opportunity4 ,you can kill me1 sahib1 because ,i deserve it60 ,when ,i thought of the deep debt of gratitude ,i owed this man1 ,i preferred to spare him4 ,i handed him a real and powerful telescope1 properly focussed1 for him to have the treat he wished4 ,when he gazed through it and saw the distant snows and a village some miles off appear quite close1 his excitement had no bounds1 and when he recognised people coming out of the houses his amazement was very curious to watch4 ,we had many1 many amusing incidents of this kind1 and they served to pass away the time4 ,i cannot end this book without paying a tribute to the faithfulness1 endurance1 and bravery of all my men4 ,a more devoted lot of fellows could nowhere have been procured4 ,i never had the slightest trouble in any way with them even1 as we have seen1 under most trying circumstances4 ,the work demanded of them was of the most severe nature1 and the constant strain and bodily sufferings so great1 that ,i rather doubt whether ,i know of any white man who could have stood it--not as they did1 but even half as well4 ,as it was1 after the strain was over--but not before--the poor fellows all broke down1 except one4 ,most of them were pitiably footsore and exhausted1 and only their strong will carried them through4 ,the only exception was the young boy1 frail and delicate1 almost girlish-looking--but with a determined little face--to whom ,i have referred at the beginning of the book4 ,as stipulated when ,i employed him1 he always carried the heaviest load1 and when physically stronger men lay down tired at the end of a march1 he was ever ready to run about to collect fuel1 took endless pleasure in helping to pitch the tents1 and assist in the cooking4 ,the endurance and courage of that little fellow were quite marvellous4 ,he did more work than two men taken together1 and at the end of the journey he was the only one who returned in excellent condition1 and as fresh as possible4 ,so that1 remember1 it is not always the big1 bulky1 muscular fellows who can stand more hardships1--the strongest and most muscular fellow ,i had was the only one who succumbed2 on the contrary1 down to a certain limit1 for very hard work1 the smaller the men you employ the better4 ,wiriness1 suppleness1 agility--and intelligence--are essential1 and always to be preferred to brutal1 uncontrollable strength2 but1 above all1 use your judgment1 and never take with you on expeditions of this sort a man who does not possess a strong will4