Another commotion--Two hundred soldiers--A stampede--Easy
travelling--A long _Mani_ wall--Mosquitoes.
COMING out of our tent in the morning, we noticed an unusual commotion
among the Tibetans. A number of mounted men with matchlocks had arrived,
and others similarly armed immediately went to join them from the tents.
They seemed excited, and I kept my eye upon them while I was cooking my
food. There were some two hundred in all, picturesquely garbed. They
seemed to be good horsemen, and looked well as they rode in a line
towards us. A little way off they stopped and dismounted, and the leaders
came forward, one stalwart fellow in a fine sheepskin coat marching ahead
of the rest. His attitude was very arrogant, and, dispensing with the
usual salutations, he approached quite close, shaking his fist at me.
"_Kiu mahla lokhna nga rah luck tiba tangan_" ("I will give you a goat or
a sheep if you will go back"), he said.
"_Kiu donna nga di tangon_" ("And I give you this to make you go back!")
was my quick answer, while I unexpectedly administered him one straight
from the shoulder that sent him flat on his back and sprawling on the
ground.
The army, which, with its usual prudence, was watching events from a
respectful distance, beat a hasty retreat. The officer, though unhurt,
scrambled away, screaming. The Tibetans had so far behaved with such
contemptible cowardice that we could hardly congratulate ourselves on
such easy successes. We began to feel that really we had no enemy at all
before us, and very likely we became even careless. Anyhow, we ate our
food and gave this affair but little thought.
[Illustration: A MANI WALL ON THE ROAD TO LHASSA]
The Tibetans kept their distance, and did not trouble us again that day.
Those who had not ridden off retired timidly inside their black tents,
and not a soul was to be seen about the encampment--which might have been
deserted, so silent and so empty did it appear. I registered my daily
observations, made a sketch of one of the black tents, and wrote up my
diary; after which we raised camp.
[Illustration: "AND I GIVE YOU THIS TO MAKE YOU GO BACK"]
Our progress was now comparatively easy, along a broad grassy plain, and
we proceeded without further disturbance in a South-easterly direction,
observing a high snowy peak at 20° (b.m.), and a low pass in the mountain
range to our North-east at 55° (b.m.). A very high range stood ahead of
us in the far distance, with low hills between. In going round one of
these lonely hills we found at the foot of it another and more important
_mani_ wall of some length, with numberless inscriptions of all ages and
sizes on stones, pieces of bone, skulls and horns. Farther on, to the
South, there were three smaller hillocks and two larger ones. The
soldiers we had routed at the encampment had proceeded in the direction
we were now following, and we were, in fact, treading all along on the
footprints of their ponies.
We had to cross a river and a number of rivulets, and so troublesome was
it each time to take off one's shoes and clothes to wade through, that
we bundled up our clothes on the yaks, and travelled along for the rest
of the afternoon bare-footed and with nothing on but a _doti_
(loin-cloth), in the style adopted by fakirs.
In an arc of a circle from 120° to 180° (b.m.) we noticed very low hills,
and from 160° to 220°, some thirty or forty miles off, could be seen much
more clearly now the high range we had observed before. The sun was
extremely hot, the ground marshy, the air being thick with huge and very
troublesome mosquitoes. We were quickly covered from head to foot with
bites, and the irritation caused by them was intense. Halting on the
right bank of a large stream at 15,600 feet, we named this spot Mosquito
Camp. At sunset the number of mosquitoes around us was such as to drive
us nearly mad, but fortunately, the moment the sun disappeared, the
thermometer fell to 33°, and we had a peaceful night.
In the evening we saw a number of horsemen riding full speed on a course
about one mile south of ours, but converging to the same direction. No
doubt they were sent to keep the authorities ahead well informed of our
movements.