Part 27 (2/2)
”There they are,” cried Chanden Sing, who had the most wonderful eyesight of any man I have known, as he pointed at the summit of a hill where, among the rocks, several heads could be seen peeping. We went on without taking further notice of them, and then they came out of their hiding-place, and we saw them descending the hill in a long line, leading their ponies. On reaching the plain they mounted their steeds and came full gallop towards us. They were quite a picturesque sight in their dark-red coats or brown and yellow skin robes and their vari-coloured caps. Some wore bright red coats with gold braiding, and Chinese caps.
These were officers. The soldiers' matchlocks, to the rests of which red and white flags were attached, gave a touch of colour to the otherwise dreary scenery of barren hills and snow, and the tinkling of the horse-bells enlivened the monotony of these silent, inhospitable regions. They dismounted some three hundred yards from us, and one old man, throwing aside his matchlock and sword in a theatrical fas.h.i.+on, walked unsteadily towards us. We received him kindly, and he afforded us great amus.e.m.e.nt, for in his way he was a strange character.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GUNKYO LAKE]
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”I AM ONLY A MESSENGER”]
”I am only a messenger,” he hastened to state, ”and therefore do not pour your anger upon me if I speak to you. I only convey the words of my officers, who do not dare to come for fear of being injured. News has been received at Lha.s.sa, from whence we have come, that a _Plenki_ (an Englishman) with many men is in Tibet, and can be found nowhere. We have been sent to capture him. Are you one of his advance guard?”
”No,” I replied drily. ”I suppose that you have taken several months to come from Lha.s.sa.”
”Oh no! Our ponies are good,” he answered; ”and we have come quickly.”
”_Chik, ni, sum, s.h.i.+, nga, do, diu, ghieh, gu, chu, chuck chick, chuck ni_,” the Tibetan counted up to twelve, frowning and keeping his head inclined towards the right as if to collect his thoughts, at the same time holding up his hand, with the thumb folded against the palm, and turning down a finger as he called each number. The thumbs are never used in counting. ”_Lum chuck ni niman!_” ”Twelve days,” said he, ”have we been on the road. We have orders not to return till we have captured the _Plenki_. And you?” asked he inquisitively, ”how long have you taken to come from Ladak?”
He said that he could see by my face that I was a Kashmeree, I being probably so burnt and dirty that it was hard to distinguish me from a native. The old man cross-examined me to find out whether I was a _pundit_ sent by the Indian Government to survey the country, and asked me why I had discarded my native clothes for _Plenki_ (European) ones. He over and over again inquired whether I was not one of the _Plenki's_ party.
”_Keran ga naddo ung?_” (”Where are you going?”) he queried.
”_Nhgarang no koroun Lama jehlhuong._” (”I am a pilgrim,” I replied, ”going to visit monasteries.”)
”_Keran mi j.a.podu._” (”You are a good man.”)
He offered to show me the way to the Gunkyo Lake, and was so pressing that I accepted. However, when I saw the 200 soldiers mount and follow us, I remonstrated with him, saying that if we were to be friends we did not need an army to escort us.
”If you are our friend, you can come alone, and we will not injure you,”
I gave him to understand; ”but if you are our enemy we will fight you and your army here at once, and we will save you the trouble of coming on.”
The Tibetan, confused and hesitating, went to confabulate with his men, and returned some time after with eight of them, while the bulk of his force galloped away in the opposite direction.
We went across the plain to 355 (b.m.), until we came to a hill range, which we crossed over a pa.s.s 17,450 feet high. Then, altering our course to 56 30', we descended and ascended several hills, and at last found ourselves in the gra.s.sy sheltered valley of the large Gunkyo Lake, extending from South-East to North-West. With a temperature of 68 (Fahr.) the water in hypsometrical apparatus boiled at 183 3' at 8.30 in the evening. The lake was of extraordinary beauty, with the high snowy Gangri mountains rising almost sheer from its waters, and on the southern side lofty hills forming a background wild and picturesque, but barren and desolate beyond all words. At the other end of the lake, to the North-West, were lower mountains skirting the water.
We encamped at 16,455 feet, and the soldiers pitched their tent some fifty yards away.
CHAPTER LIX
In pleasant company--Unpopularity of the Lamas--Soldiers--Towards the Maium Pa.s.s--Gra.s.s--Threats--Puzzled Tibetans--The Maium Pa.s.s--Obos.
DURING the evening the Tibetans came over to my camp and made themselves useful. They helped us to get fuel, and brewed tea for me in Tibetan fas.h.i.+on. They seemed decent fellows, although sly if you like. They professed to hate the Lamas, the rulers of the country, to whom they took special pleasure in applying names hardly repeatable in these pages.
According to them, the Lamas had all the money that came into the country, and no one but themselves was allowed to have any. They were not particular as to the means used to obtain their aim; they were cruel and unjust. Every man in Tibet, they said, was a soldier in case of emergency, and every one a servant of the Lamas. The soldiers of the standing army received a certain quant.i.ty of _tsamba_, bricks of tea and b.u.t.ter, and that was all, no pay being given in cash. Usually, however, they were given a pony to ride, and when on travelling duty they had a right to obtain relays of animals at post-stations and villages, where also they were ent.i.tled to claim supplies of food, saddles, or anything else they required, to last them as far as the next encampment. The weapons (sword and matchlock) generally belonged to the men themselves, and always remained in the family; but occasionally, and especially in the larger towns, such as Lha.s.sa and Sigatz, the Lamas provided them: gunpowder and bullets were invariably supplied by the authorities. The arms were manufactured mostly in Lha.s.sa and Sigatz. Although the Tibetans boasted of great accuracy in shooting with their matchlocks, which had wooden rests to allow the marksman to take a steady aim, it was never my pleasure to see even the champion shots in the country hit the mark. It is true that, for sporting purposes and for economy's sake, the Tibetan soldier hardly ever used lead bullets or shot, but preferred to fill his barrel with pebbles, which were scarcely calculated to improve the bore of the weapon. Furthermore, gunpowder was so scarce that it was but very seldom they had a chance of practising.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FLYING PRAYERS ON THE MAIUM Pa.s.s]
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