pplying for medicines,
and wishing to sell their native wares.

A pretty girl, from whom I bought a curious set of neck hangings made of
musk-deer teeth, wished to be cured of the _goitre_, a complaint too
common, alas! on these hills. Then a child was brought with a nasty
tumour in a state of suppuration inside his left ear. Others wished to be
cured of pains in the stomach and liver, which are very general among
them owing to their abuse of liquor.

Upon hearing that two lady missionaries lived a mile and a half farther
on, at Sirka, I gave myself the pleasure of calling upon them. They
possessed a nice bungalow at an elevation of 8900 feet above sea level,
by the side of which was another structure for the accommodation of
converts and servants. Lower on the hillside they had built a dispensary
and hospital.

[Illustration: WRINKLED SHOKA]

I was received with the utmost courtesy by Miss Sheldon, M.D., and Miss
Brown, of the Methodist Episcopal Mission. I have in my lifetime met with
many missionaries of all creeds in nearly every part of the globe, but
never has it been my luck before to meet two such charming, open-minded,
and really hard-working ladies as the two who now so kindly received me.

"Come right in, Mr. Landor," said Miss Sheldon with her delightful
American accent, and she shook hands with me in a good, hearty fashion.

The natives had praised to me the charity and helpfulness of this lady.
I found this more than justified. By night or day she would never refuse
help to the sick, and her deeds of kindness which became known to me are
far too numerous to detail in these pages. Perhaps her most valuable
quality is her perfect tact--a quality I have found none too common among
missionaries. Her patience, her kindly manner towards the Shokas, her
good heart, the wonderful cures she wrought among the sick, were items of
which these honest mountaineers had everlasting praises to sing. A Shoka
was telling me that it was not an uncommon thing for Miss Sheldon to give
away all her own food supplies, and even the clothes from her
back--courting for herself discomfort, yet happy in her good work.

With it was combined a charming modesty. No word about herself or her
actions ever passed her lips. A pioneer in these parts, she evidently
must have encountered much difficulty in the beginning. At present her
good influence over the Shokas is very considerable. The same can be said
of Miss Brown, who was in eve