The start with a further reduced party—A reconnaissance—Natural fortress—Black tents and animals—On the wrong tack—Slings and their use—A visit to a Tibetan camp—Mistaken for brigands—Bargaining and begging.
ALL was promising well when, with my reduced party, I started towards the
N.E., first following for three-and-a-quarter miles a course of 49°, skirting the lake, then ascending over the barren hill ranges in a direction of 90° for a distance of twelve miles. The journey was uneventful, and my four men seemed in the best of spirits. We descended to a plain where water and grass could be found, and having seen a camping-ground with a protecting wall, such as are usually put up by Tibetans at their halting-places, we made ourselves comfortable for the night, notwithstanding the high wind and a passing storm of hail and rain, which drenched us to the skin. The thermometer during the night went down to 34°.
At sunrise I started to make a reconnaissance from the top of a high hill
wherefrom I could get a bird's-eye view of a great portion of the
surrounding country. It was of the utmost importance for me to find out
which would be the easiest way to get through the intricate succession of
hills and mountains, and to discover the exact direction of a large river
to the N. of us, throwing itself into the Mansarowar, the name of which
no one could tell me. I started alone towards 352° 30' (b.m.), and
three-and-a-half miles' climb brought me to 16,480 feet on the summit of
a hill, where I was able to ascertain and note down all that I wished to
know. I returned to camp, and we went on towards 73° 30', crossing over a
pass 16,450 feet, and ultimately finding ourselves at the foot of a hill, the summit of which resembled a fortress, with flying-prayers flapping to and fro in the wind. At the foot of the hill were some twenty ponies grazing.
With the aid of my telescope I was able to make sure that what at first
appeared to be a castle was nothing but a work of nature, and that
apparently no one was concealed up there. The ponies, however, indicated
the presence of men, and we had to move cautiously. In fact, rounding the
next hill, we discerned in the grassy valley below a number of black
tents, two hundred yaks, and about a thousand sheep. We kept well out of
sight behind the hill, and making a long détour, we at last descended in
an extensive valley, in which the river described a semicircle, washing
the southern hill ranges, where it was joined by a tributary coming from
the S.E. This tributary at first appeared to me larger than what I
afterwards recognised to be the main stream, so that I followed its
course for four miles (92° 30' b.m.), till I found that it was taking me
in a more southerly direction than I wished, and had to retrace my steps
along a flattish plateau. Meeting two Tibetan women, I purchased, after
endless trouble, a fat sheep out of a flock they were driving before
them. These two females carried rope slings in their hands, and the
accuracy with which they could fling stones and hit the mark at very
great distances was really marvellous. For the sake of a few annas they
gave an exhibition of their skill, hitting any sheep you pointed at in
their flock, even at distances of thirty and forty yards. I tried to
obtain from these dangerous females a little information about the
country, but they professed absolute ignorance.
"We are menials," they said, "and we know nothing. We know each sheep in
our flock, and that is all, but our lord, of whom we are the slaves, knows all. He knows where the rivers come from, and the ways to all Gombas. He is a great king."
"And where does he live?" I inquired.
"There, two miles off, where that smoke rises to the sky."
The temptation was great to go and call on this "great king," who knew so
many things, all the more so as we might probably persuade him to sell us
provisions, which, as we had none too many, would be of great assistance
to us. Anyhow the visit would be interesting, and I decided to risk it.
We steered towards the several columns of smoke that rose before us, and
eventually we approached a large camp of black tents. Our appearance
caused a good deal of commotion, and men and women rushed in and out of
their tents in great excitement.