e summit of the range, instead of
proceeding, like other travellers, along the valleys, and we must get
what little sleep we could during the day, when we could hide in some
secluded spot. The thought of seeing a fire had to be abandoned for an
indefinite period, because, even in the remote contingency of our finding
fuel at the great altitudes where we should have to camp, every one knows
that a fire and a column of smoke can be seen at a very great distance,
both by day and night. We pondered and discussed all these matters before
we made a start, and, moreover, we were fully aware that, if the Tibetans
could once lay their hands upon us, our numbers were too small to offer a
stout resistance, and we might well give ourselves up for lost. In fact,
taking things all round, I rather doubted whether the lives of my few
followers and my own were worth more than a song from the moment of our
leaving "Devils' Camp."

With this full knowledge of what we were undertaking, we may have been
foolish in starting at all, but lack of determination cannot in fairness
be credited as one of our faults.

The thoughtful doctor had brought with him from our last camp a few
lichens, with which he was now attempting to light a fire, to cook me
some _chapatis_ before leaving. Alas! four hours' hard work, and an equal
number of boxes of matches, failed to produce the semblance of a flame.

At midnight I sent Chanden Sing and Kachi to collect the men. Two came
trembling into the tent; the others could not be roused. I went myself
and took them, one by one, to their loads. They were all crying like
children. It was then that I discovered that in the haste and confusion I
had made one load too many. Here was a dilemma! Everything was ready and
propitious for our flight, and a delay at this juncture was fatal. At any
cost, I must have another man.

The moans and groans in the coolies' tent, when I went in search of one,
were pitiful. You would have thought that they were all going to die
within a few minutes, and that they were now in their last agonies, all
because of the terror of being picked out to follow me.

At last, after endless trouble, threats and promises, Bijesing the Johari
was persuaded to come. But the load was too heavy for him; he would only
carry half. To save trouble, I agreed I would carry the other half myself
in addition to my own load.

We put out our hurricane lantern, and at 2 A.M., when the gale was raging
at its