A consultation--Untied from the rack--The most terrible
twenty-four hours of my life--I lose the use of my
feet--Circulation returning--Intense pain--Sports.
THE Pombo, who had been, during the greater part of the afternoon,
looking at me with an air of mingled pity and respect, as though he had
been forced against his will to treat me so brutally, could not help
joining in my laughter at the Lama's sorrowful plight. In a way, I
believe he was rather glad that the accident had happened; for, if he had
until then been uncertain whether to kill me or not, he felt, after what
had occurred, that it was not prudent to attempt it. The gold ring which
had been taken from me on the day of our arrest, and for which I had
asked many times, as it had been given by my mother, was regarded as
possessing miraculous powers as long as it was upon me; and was therefore
kept well away from me, for fear that, with its help, I might break my
bonds and escape. The Pombo, the Lamas and officers held another
consultation, at the end of which, towards sunset, several soldiers came
and loosed my legs from the stretching log; and my hands, though still
manacled, were lowered from the pillar behind.
As the ropes round my ankles were unwound from the deep channels they had
cut into my flesh, large patches of skin came away with them. Thus ended
the most terrible twenty-four hours I have ever passed in my lifetime.
I felt very little relief at first as I lay flat on the ground, for my
body and legs were stiff and as if dead; and, as time went by, and I saw
no signs of their coming back to life, I feared that mortification had
set in, and that I had lost the use of my feet for good. It was two or
three hours before the blood began to circulate in my right foot, and the
pain when it did so was intense. Had a handful of knives been passed
slowly down the inside of my leg the agony could not have been more
excruciating. My arms were not quite so bad: they also were numbed, but
the circulation was more quickly re-established.
In the meanwhile, the Pombo, whether to amuse me or to show off his
riches, ordered about one hundred ponies, some with magnificent harness,
to be brought up; and, mounting the finest, and holding in his hand that
dreadful _taram_, rode round the hill on which the monastery and fort
stood.
On returning, he harangued his men, and a series of sports began, the
Pombo seating himself near me and watching me intently to see how I was
enjoying the performance. First of all the best marksmen were selected,
and with their matchlocks fired one after the other at my two poor yaks
only a few yards off; but although they aimed carefully and deliberately,
they did not succeed in hitting them. I knew that they fired with
bullets, for I could hear the hissing sound the missiles made.
Next came a display of fine horsemanship, which was very interesting. I
should have enjoyed it more if I had not been suffering agonies all the
time. Still, the performance helped to cheer me. First there were races
in which only two ponies at a time took part, the last race being run
between the two winners of the last heats, and a _kata_ was presented to
the victor. Next one horseman rode ahead at full gallop flying a _kata_,
while some twenty others followed closely behind. The _kata_ was left to
fly by itself, and when it settled on the ground, the horsemen following
the first rode some distance away, and, at a given signal, galloped back
wildly, all converging towards the spot, and, bending down from their
ponies, attempted to pick up the _kata_ without dismounting. Some of the
younger men were very clever at this.
Another exercise consisted in one man on foot standing still, while a
mounted comrade rode at full gallop towards him, seized him by his
clothes, and lifted him on to the saddle.
Though I could not see as well as I wished, I got so interested in the
show, and expressed such admiration for the ponies, that the Pombo,
becoming quite thoughtful and polite, ordered the best of them to be
brought before me, and had me lifted into a sitting posture, so that I
could see them better.