that when she complained I had appeased her, in the
usual way, with a coin. She had conveyed her load to Kuti, and had
slipped, on her way back, with her child--at a spot not far from where I
had had my slide--but, less fortunate than myself, had rolled right into
the foaming stream. She managed to cling to the rock and was eventually
saved, but the infant was washed from rock to rock by the current, and
disappeared under a snow tunnel.

"Oh, sahib!" cried the woman, "if you had not before we started looked at
us through _the eyes_ (the twin lenses) of your _black box_ (the
photographic camera), I should not have lost my baby."

[Illustration: THE PHOTOGRAPH THAT CAUSED THE CHILD'S DEATH]

"And how about your husband?"

"Oh, you will kill him too."

"But I don't know your husband. Anyhow, I promise not to look at him with
these eyes."

"It is not that, sahib, but he is coming with you to Tibet. He is
carrying one of your loads. You will all be killed."

She pointed him out to me--one of the strongest among the men I had, and
the most anxious to accompany me. He was too good to lose, and I was
certainly unwilling to renounce my claim to him on account of his good
woman's tears. So I consoled her as best I could; promised to take good
care of him, and under no circumstances to photograph him.

At Kuti, Dr. Wilson and I were busy for several hours weighing, dividing
and packing in equal loads the provisions I had purchased: fourteen
_munds_ in all (1120 lbs.) of flour, rice, red sugar (_ghur_), salt, red
pepper (32 lbs.), _dhal, miseri_ (lump sugar), _ghi_ (butter), and a
large quantity of _satoo_ (oatmeal), and broiled corn. There were, in
addition, the preserved and tinned provisions which I had brought with me
from London.

To give my carriers no cause for complaint, I allowed them to choose
their own shoes, blankets, &c., and I did all in my power to humour them,
because the loads threatened to be excessively heavy. In fact, I found
that, even after dispensing with everything but what was absolutely
essential, there was still ample to carry for at least two strong men.
Every available Shoka had joined the party, and no inducement that I
could offer brought me more volunteers. I was very unwilling to delay,
and I was on the point of subdividing among the men I already had the two
extra loads, when two stray shepherds turned up, half famished and naked,
with long unkempt heads of hair, and only a coral necklac