Part 6 (1/2)

REACHING LHassA: SUPPLIES: MESSING: THE LHassA BAZAAR

Theof an anti-clihts, and provided ourselves throughout our journey with the necessaries of life, ainst the will of the ene cliht in the Lhassa plain, would have been highly artistic Here stood the Debun monastery, and there further on the Sara ood shells in thosein consternation like swarilded roof of the chief astrologer's house, that would have rand loot and have looked so well in the British Museum There ahead of us rose majestically on its conical hill the Pota-La, that _piece de resistance_ which would have really taxed our efforts, and by its side on a si us by its proud eminence to seize it But such wild schemes were not to be realised These ere not our ways We otiate Those that negotiated were busythat the representatives of the Tibetan Govern to, before anything was settled, must have been immense The rest of us were not often very busy 'Those also serve who only stand and wait' was our motto

There was reluctance at first on the part of the monasteries to sell us supplies, but this was shortly overcome We had for one day to feed the natives of the force on peas soaked overnight in water as a substitute for tsa for supplies to coan to do so till we left Lhassa we felt no pinch The large monasteries were our chief purveyors, but besides these the Chinese community of Lhassa coation of the Amban placed their wares at our disposal froreat boon to us, for the Chinaman, especially if at all influenced by other civilisations, has ideas on dieteticsto both those of the British and of the native of India than do the Tibetan's ideas To the ordinary Tibetan the sucking of ular intervals fros from his neck represents an adequate idea of diet The monks and richer laymen of course do thee in did not appeal to our palates, nor to those of Indian natives Their butter, for instance, which at times both British and native had to make use of, had always a special flavour of its own--a flavour which in an indefinable way suggests Tibet and itsallied to a blend of such smells as that of Tibetan fuel, of joss-stick incense, and of terease Few Europeans and fewer natives could eat Tibetan butter with relish The Chinaman, on the other hand, provided us with flour sufficiently fine to bake with, hite and brown sugar, with that solidified foroor,' and with dried fruits Latterly we had often had to mix tsa bread for British troops The result, though not unwholesome, was of a deep brown colour, and hardly palatable If once cut into overnight, a tsay by , it would not be found so heavy

During the latter part of our march we had run out of most of such delicacies as a supply column usually carries, and, as I have alreadyup the loads and loads of parcels which were now accu to the column In those days, in our attitude towards food, we reverted very reedy in thought, word, and deed Theconversations was to discuss the ideal menu at a first-rate London restaurant But sorew too painful I remember well a case of two officers at noon on a co by the wayside at a halt

'Ah,' said one, 'what I should really like noould be a large tuood iced hock-cup'

These idle words touched a tender spot in the other officer, to whom hock-cup happened to be the beau-ideal of drinks

'Shut up!' the latter answered angrily, a fierce light in his eye; 'if you ain, I'll break your head!'

Jah not a necessity, was our pri days in the open air and also with considerable fatigue to undergo, you craved for the sustenance of sweet things Till sugar also began to run short, we used to make treacle froht little of alcohol Just as water at that altitude boils at a low teive the desired tingle to the blood Most messes had soon run out of whiskey, and rum in small quantities from the supply coluhtful asno personal share in your own catering A mess president, of course, especially on service, has a vast weight upon his shoulders He has to foresee the wants of ry mouths months ahead, and fit them in to a scanty allowance of transport But his function is of a special kind The ordinary member of a ood, bad, or indifferent, and thinks no more about it On the other hand, if, with the aid of a purely experi, quite a new vista of energy is at once opened out to you It becoreedy, of course, and a good dinner becomes the mark of a successful day, and a bad dinner that of an unsuccessful one; but even so the arts of catering and of the supervision of cooking, when practised in difficulties, are not in theh order One wants company of course I messed on the method of Mr and Mrs Jack Spratt with another officer

He was of the lean, I the fat kind He breakfasted at eleven, or (if on the e breakfast the moment I was out of bed, and ran to a lunch later, which my messmate scorned So, after all, we only met at dinner, but then that is the only meal at which company is a necessity He dined usually on curry and rice, which I have always disliked, while I had roast ets it at hoes of each other's company when that was desirable, without the effort of subscribing to each other's tastes We found it aLhassa, we had arow fastidious, and to insist upon our cooks enlarging the culinary horizon A little harsh treatht the youth who fed me to turn out a passable omelette, and a little more coercion resulted in quite eatable rissoles In the end, when he ca of high-sounding dishes with French names, which would have really made a fine feast, if served otherwise than on enamelled iron plates, set upon a table cloth of advertisement sheets from a stale newspaper Once I had a co to do hi disused but spotless bed sheet, and made use of this as a table cloth My friend asked for its re of incipient snow-blindness When I got to India and to polite society, and began wiping my mouth with a table napkin, I discovered that on the first few occasions the napkin used to co use of it, one thought subconsciously that it was one's handkerchief, and so tucked it away as such

Tobacco, without a parcels post to bring it to us, became very scarce

The Sahib missed his pipe or cheroot, and the native his 'hubble-bubble,' and both alike took to the 'Pedro' cigarette, the produce of an enterprising firm whose custom extended to Lhassa Vendors of Pedros had followed us on the march, and, apart fro it, I suppose, through China or by the trade route that lies through Nepal By a rough estimate it would appear that for two e of ten Pedros daily The rate grew very much enhanced with the constant demand, and I know of one needy officer who, in view of the fortune thus doubtlesshead-down for ho his hand and heart to Miss Pedro, if he finds such a person existing

Shopping in the camp bazaar was the ladylike way in which we often spent our s We had only been in camp at Lhassa for twenty-four hours, when a bazaar was formed just outside camp by Tibetan, Chinese, and Nepali traders It needed a little supervision to prevent disputes and disorder, but the provost-marshal quickly had it in hand An attempt to fix rates for various more necessary articles was not wholly successful, hu out for the article at all cost, and hu an easy chance of profit There were vegetables in that bazaar and sticks of wild rhubarb There was 'ata,' in sreedily as a change fro exorbitant prices, and thick Chinese candles with bits of stick for wicks Later on, e had reater part of the time, the bazaar developed The vendors by that tiht with the such trinkets as would attract our fancy

Skins of all kinds would be brought for sale; the skins of very young laether in winter linings for lamas' robes, seemed equally adaptable to the opera cloaks of our sisters and cousins and aunts at home; skins too of the lynx, the mar heavy earrings set with turquoises and 'charm boxes' similarly set, which they wore as lockets at the neck They would take these off to sell to you and haggle, like the veritable Eastern traders that they were, with you for the price

Besides the Tibetan or Chinese candle, we also found imported candles of European manufacture But most imports for household use appeared to be japanese, as, for instance, soap and ood quality, and japan does not seem to take pains to appear at her best in the Lhassa et a new cake of soap, even if it did crumble away quickly, was a luxury, and the return to a land of reat relief I remember an officer who on the march had latterly possessed hiarette with them

There are just about half a dozen prireat bulk which always seem to run out sooner than expected on field service A reserve in a supply colu would always come in useful: of matches, three mule loads; of wax candles, sevenkind of tobacco that in ti way, ten ar, thirty ade would be much blessed

When relations with the Tibetans had becoanised parties to visit the bazaar in Lhassa city itself These parties reminded one of a Sunday-school treat The part of curate would be played by some field-officer ould collect his school children outside camp These would consist of those officers, soldiers, sepoys, and follohose turn it was to go He would conduct us with careful supervision from the camp to the city, and there let us loose for two hours to play in the bazaar The bazaar was one circular street, surrounding the cathedral which, though once or twice entered by favoured individuals, was out of bounds for us

In the city the saht to the caoods How soot to Lhassa was a lasses 'made in Austria,' and beside them a score or so of penknives 'made in Germany' The British trades on the gates of the new Jerusalem; it had certainly penetrated Lhassa, usually in the forroup on the wall of a Kashest of all to find was a bicycle of the Rover pattern--quite out of gear, but doubtless interesting to the Tibetan as a Western curio He ht it was a species of Christian prayer-wheel

I was short of dinner plates, and bought one It was of tin, and had stamped on it a coraphy All round the rim faces of clocks were sta the nae city of the world, while the clock in the centre shohat the time was in that city when the clock in London stood at twelve noon The population of London as staure, but London was selected as the honoured city whose clock should stand at the precise hour of noon, and the whole geography lesson was in English One would therefore come to the conclusion that the plate was a British product, dating back to the period of some not very recent census To have traced that plate fro

Beggars swarmed in the bazaar One randfather on his back through the streets

The grandfather was certainly the quintessence of decrepitude, and as such would appeal to the benevolent, who apparently never thought of suggesting to the young randfather at ho