Dr. Wilson joins my expedition for a few marches--What misdeeds a
photographic camera can do--Weighing, dividing, and packing
provisions--Two extra men wanted--The last friendly faces.
I WAS examining a young woman who had badly injured and partly fractured
a central vertebra of the spine, when Dr. Wilson turned up and gave the
poor wretch the little relief possible in her condition, for which she
had hoped in vain from me. He was welcome to me for many reasons besides
the pleasure of being in his company. He had offered to join my
expedition for a few marches into Tibet, and I was glad indeed to have
him with me. We pushed on as soon as possible over the road between Nabi
and Kuti, which I have already described. Our journey was quite
uneventful, and the snow-bridges and snow-fields, so troublesome when I
had first taken this road, had melted and altogether disappeared. Even at
Nabi little happened. But I must just mention the following incident as
illustrative of the curious suspicion and dislike I found everywhere of
the photographic apparatus I carried with me.
I was on the point of leaving the place when a handsome Tibetan woman,
whom I had not previously noticed, accosted me with hysterical
sobs--inarticulate, but conveying a very clear impression of suffering.
"You have killed my child, and now you will kill my husband," she
complained, when she was able to talk; and I then discovered that I had
on my previous visit to Nabi taken a snap-shot at a child perched on the
top of a very heavy load that happened to be carried on the woman's back
through my camp, and that when she complained I had appeased her, in the
usual way, with a coin. She had conveyed her load to Kuti, and had
slipped, on her way back, with her child--at a spot not far from where I
had had my slide--but, less fortunate than myself, had rolled right into
the foaming stream. She managed to cling to the rock and was eventually
saved, but the infant was washed from rock to rock by the current, and
disappeared under a snow tunnel.
"Oh, sahib!" cried the woman, "if you had not before we started looked at
us through _the eyes_ (the twin lenses) of your _black box_ (the
photographic camera), I should not have lost my baby."
[Illustration: THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT CAUSED THE CHILD'S DEATH]
"And how about your husband?"
"Oh, you will kill him too."
"But I don't know your husband. Anyhow, I promise not to look at him with
these eyes."
"It is not that, sahib, but he is coming with you to Tibet. He is
carrying one of your loads. You will all be killed."
She pointed him out to me--one of the strongest among the men I had, and
the most anxious to accompany me. He was too good to lose, and I was
certainly unwilling to renounce my claim to him on account of his good
woman's tears. So I consoled her as best I could; promised to take good
care of him, and under no circumstances to photograph him.
At Kuti, Dr. Wilson and I were busy for several hours weighing, dividing
and packing in equal loads the provisions I had purchased: fourteen
_munds_ in all (1120 lbs.) of flour, rice, red sugar (_ghur_), salt, red
pepper (32 lbs.), _dhal, miseri_ (lump sugar), _ghi_ (butter), and a
large quantity of _satoo_ (oatmeal), and broiled corn. There were, in
addition, the preserved and tinned provisions which I had brought with me
from London.
To give my carriers no cause for complaint, I allowed them to choose
their own shoes, blankets, &c., and I did all in my power to humour them,
because the loads threatened to be excessively heavy. In fact, I found
that, even after dispensing with everything but what was absolutely
essential, there was still ample to carry for at least two strong men.
Every available Shoka had joined the party, and no inducement that I
could offer brought me more volunteers. I was very unwilling to delay,
and I was on the point of subdividing among the men I already had the two
extra loads, when two stray shepherds turned up, half famished and naked,
with long unkempt heads of hair, and only a coral necklace and a silver
bangle by way of clothing. I quickly secured them, and although one was
really only a boy, I decided to trust to luck and take Dr. Wilson's
assurance that he looked tough enough and would be useful.
This brought my little force up to thirty strong, and now I was ready to
start.
[Illustration: PLAN OF KUTI CASTLE
1. PILES OF STONES 2. STEPS 3. OUTER WALL
4. TOWER 5. BLACKSMITH'S HOUSE 6. WINDOWS]