igh up on the cliffside, was the picturesque village of
Buddi (9300 feet), with its two- and three-storeyed houses. Below and
over it in long zigzags could be seen the track ascending to the top of
_Chai-Lek_, or _Tcheto_ Pass as the Shokas call it. At bearings magnetic
170 deg. we had the towering Namjun peak, so high that I was told it could be
seen even from Almora and Ranikhet.

Then as we proceeded up the steep clayish track, I could not, on looking
back, help admiring the magnificent Kali valley with its gigantic cliffs
and gorges surmounted by lofty snow peaks. On the _Chai_ Pass the two
aneroids I had on me registered an altitude of 11,190 feet. I was now on
a small flat tableland. Darcy Bura, the richest Shoka trader from Buddi,
had erected here a bargain-house for the purchase and exchange of borax,
salt, wool, and other articles from Tibet. On the left side of the road a
large cave in the rock had been walled and partly roofed over for the use
of wife-seekers from the villages of Buddi and Garbyang. These houses
were called _Rambangs_, and were an old institution among the Shokas, of
which I shall have occasion to speak at length later on. As everywhere
else, a few high poles with flying prayers and a bell had been placed
near the pass.

CHAPTER XI

A series of misfortunes--Tibetan atrocities on British
subjects--Tibetan exactions--Revolting cruelty to one of her
Majesty's subjects--Assault on a British officer--A smart British
Envoy.

MY arrival at Garbyang was watched by hundreds of men, women, and
children, all squatting on the edge of the flat mud roofs of their
habitations, while a few dozen people followed me respectfully to my
camping ground beyond the village. A large tent had been put up for me by
Pundit Gobaria's brother, who had been informed of my coming by Anti Ram
Sah, my banker at Almora. Mr. G., Deputy Commissioner, arrived later.

I was very anxious to make immediate arrangements to enter Tibet, but all
my efforts to obtain reliable followers were of little avail.

I heard to my regret, a day or two later, that the plan of my journey,
which with so much trouble and care I had kept secret, had been divulged
to the Tibetan authorities. Misfortunes never come singly! Against my
will I had been advised to pay a certain sum at Almora, in exchange for
which I received a letter of credit on Pundit Gobaria, a rich trader of
Garbyang, who was to pay me the amount in s