the river, which throws itself into the Gunkyo Lake.

[Illustration: MATCHLOCK]

The valley was very narrow, and ran in continuous zigzags; but although
the altitude was great, there was abundance of grass, and the green was
quite refreshing to the eyes, tired as we were of snow and reddish barren
mountains and desert-like stretches of land. We came to a basin where, on
the opposite bank of the stream, was a large Tibetan camping-ground with
a high wall of stones. Behind it I could see smoke rising, which made me
suspect that there were people concealed there.

Our Tibetan friends asked what we were going to do, and begged me to stop
there to talk and drink tea. I said I had had quite enough of both, and
would proceed.

"If you go on we will kill you," said one of the soldiers, getting into a
temper, and taking advantage of our politeness towards him and his mates.

"_Nga samgi ganta indah_" ("If you please"), I answered with studied
courtesy.

"If you go another step, we will cut off your head, or you will have to
cut off ours," cried two or three others, stretching their bare necks
towards me.

"_Taptih middu_" ("I have not got a small knife"), I replied, quite
seriously, and with assumed disappointment, twirling my hand in the air
in Tibetan fashion.

The Tibetans did not know what to make of me, and when I moved towards
the pass, on which hundreds of flying prayers flapped in the wind, after
politely bidding them good-bye with tongue out, and waving both my hands
palms upwards in front of my forehead in the most approved Tibetan style,
they took off their caps and humbly saluted us by going down on their
knees and putting their heads close to the ground.

We crossed the plain, and slowly wended our way up the pass. Near the top
we came to a track, the highway from Ladak to Lhassa _via_ Gartok, along
the northern side of the Rakstal, Mansarowar and Gunkyo Lakes. On the
pass itself were planted several poles connected by means of ropes, from
which flying prayers waved gaily in the breeze. _Obos_, or mounds of
stones, had also been erected here. The slabs were usually white, and
bore in many instances the inscription "_Omne mani padme hun_." Yak
skulls and horns, as well as those of goats and sheep, were laid by the
side of these Obos, the same words being engraved on the bone and stained
red with the blood of the animal killed.

These sacrifices are offered by Tibetans when crossing a high pass,
especiall