Washing-day--A long march--_Kiang_ and antelope--Benighted--The
purchase of a goat--Ramifications of the Brahmaputra--A
détour--Through a swamp--Mansing again lost and found.
THE next was for us a great washing-day. The water of the stream was so
pleasant and clear that we could not resist the temptation of having a
regular cleaning up, washing first our clothing and spreading it to dry
in the sun, and then cleansing our faces and bodies thoroughly with soap,
a luxury unknown to us for ever so long.
While I was drying myself in the sun--owing to the want of towels--I
registered at 211° (b.m.) a very high snowy peak, and a lower one at 213°
30' forming part of the chain before us. There were mountains on every
side of the plain we were traversing; and another very elevated peak, of
which I had taken bearings on a previous occasion, was at 20° (b.m.). A
break occurred in the hill range to our North-east, showing a narrow
valley, beyond which were high snowy mountains. We made a very long march
along the grassy plain, going to 147° (b.m.), and encamped on the bank of
the Brahmaputra, here already a wide, deep and very rapid stream. We had
passed hundreds of _kiang_ and antelopes, and shortly before sunset I
took a walk to the hills to try and bring some fresh meat to camp. I
stalked a herd of antelopes, and having gone some five miles from camp, I
was benighted, and on my return had the greatest difficulty in finding my
men in the darkness. They had been unable to light a fire, and as they
had both gone fast asleep, I received no answer to my calls. We had
selected a sheltered depression in the ground for our camp, and there
being hundreds of similar spots everywhere round it, and no landmarks to
go by, it was by no means easy to identify the exact place.
Fortunately, at last, after I had shouted for some considerable time,
Chanden Sing heard me, and, by the sound of his voice, I found my way
back. In the morning we noticed a large encampment about a mile off on
the opposite bank of the Brahmaputra, where we might have obtained
provisions, but the stream was too rapid for us to cross; moreover, we
saw black tents in every direction on our side of the water, and
therefore there was no reason to go to the extra trouble and danger of
crossing the stream.
[Illustration: KIANG]
Much to our delight, we succeeded in purchasing a goat from some passing
Tibetans, who drove before them a flock of several thousand heads, and,
as we could not find sufficient dry fuel to make a fire, we entrusted
Mansing with the safe-conduct of the animal to our next camp, where we
proposed to feast on it.
The Brahmaputra had here several ramifications mostly ending in lakelets,
and rendering the plain a regular swamp. The larger branch was very wide
and deep, and we preferred following it to crossing it, notwithstanding
that we had to deviate somewhat from the course which I would have
otherwise followed. We thus made a considerable _détour_, but even as it
was, for several miles we sank in mud up to our knees, or waded through
water, for although there were small patches of earth with tufts of grass
which rose above the water, they collapsed on our attempting to stand
upon them.
The whole of the Northern part of the plain was extremely marshy. Our
yaks gave us no end of trouble, for when they sank unexpectedly in soft
mud-holes, they became restless and alarmed, and in their struggles to
save themselves, once or twice shook off their pack-saddles and loads,
which we had not been able to fasten properly for want of ropes. Chanden
Sing and I, however, managed to keep up with them, and at last, on
nearing the hills, the ground showed greater undulations and was rather
drier. We saw columns of smoke rising from near the foot of the range to
the North of us. We went on another couple of miles, exhausted and dirty,
our clothes, which we had spent so much soap and time in washing, filthy
with splashes of mud.
[Illustration: OUR YAKS SINKING IN MUD]
"Where are Mansing and the _rabbu?_"[26] I asked of my bearer.
"He remained behind at the beginning of the swamp. He was too exhausted
to drag along the goat you purchased."
I was much concerned, on scouting the country all round from a hillock
with my telescope, to see no signs of the poor fellow, and I was angry
with myself for not noticing his disappearance before. As there were many
Tibetans about the spot where he had remained, I feared foul play on
their part, and that he might have been overpowered. Again I imagined
that, weak as he was, he might have been sucked down in one of the deeper
mud-holes, without a chance of saving himself. I left Chanden Sing to
look after the yaks and turned back in search of him. As I hurried back
mile after mile, struggling again half across the mud swamp, and yet saw
no signs of the poor coolie, I was almost giving up my quest in despair,
when my eye caught something moving about half a mile farther on. It was
the goat all by itself. I made for it with a sinking heart.
It was only on getting quite close to it that I perceived the poor
coolie, lying flat and half sunk in the mud. He had fallen in a faint,
and though he was still breathing, he was quite insensible. Fortunately
he had taken the precaution of tying the rope of the _rabbu_ tight round
his arm, and thus not only was it owing to the animal that I had found
his whereabouts, but I had also saved our precious acquisition. With some
rubbing and shaking I brought the poor fellow back to life, and supported
him by the arm until we rejoined Chanden Sing. Not till the middle of the
night did we reach Tarbar, a large Tibetan encampment at the foot of the
hill range.
[26] The Tibetans have three distinct kinds of goats: the _rabbu_, or
large woolly animal, such as the one I had purchased; the _ratton_, or
small goat; and the _chitbu_, a dwarf goat whose flesh is delicious
eating. The _rabbu_ and _ratton_ are the two kinds generally used for
carrying loads, and they have sufficient strength to bear a weight not
exceeding 40 lbs. for a distance of from five to eight miles daily over
fairly good ground.