chi and Dola,
left me, swearing by the sun and all that they hold most sacred, that
they would in no way betray me to the Tibetans, who so far had no
suspicion as to who I was.

Bijesing the Johari and the Kutial Bura Nattoo agreed to accompany me as
far as the Maium Pass, so that my party, including myself, now was
reduced to only five.

CHAPTER LI

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 deg.,[22]
skirting the lake, then ascending over the barren hill ranges in a
direction of 90 deg. 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 deg..

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 deg. 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 deg. 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.

[Illustration: SLING]

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