live, and I went on walking
mechanically.

[Illustration: SHRINE INSIDE TENT]

CHAPTER LXXII

Eighty black tents--Starved--Kindly natives--Presents--Ando and
his promises--A friendly Lama--A low pass--My plans.

WE reached an encampment of some eighty black tents and a mud
guard-house. We were positively in a starved condition and it was utterly
impossible to proceed farther, owing to the wretched condition of my two
men. They begged to be given ponies to ride, for their feet were so sore
that, notwithstanding their anxiety to follow me, they could not.

The natives received us very kindly, and, on my applying for them,
consented to sell me ponies, clothes and provisions. We encamped about
two miles beyond the settlement, and during the evening several persons
visited my tent, bringing gifts of flour, butter and _tsamba_,
accompanied by _Katas_, the veils of friendship. I made a point of
invariably giving the Tibetans, in return for their gifts, silver money
to an amount three or four times greater than the value of the articles
they presented us with, and they professed to be very grateful for it. A
man called Ando, who styled himself a Gourkha, but wore the garb of the
Tibetans, came to visit us in our tent, and promised to bring for sale
several ponies the next morning. He also undertook to sell me a
sufficient quantity of food to enable us to reach Lhassa, and, to show
his good faith, brought a portion of the supplies in the evening, and
said he would let us have the remainder the next morning.

We next had a visit from a Lama, who appeared both civil and intelligent,
and who presented us with some butter and _chura_ (cheese). He had
travelled in India, he told us, as far as Calcutta, and was on his way
from Gartok to Lhassa, where he expected to arrive in four or five days,
having an excellent pony. Other Lamas and men who came to see us stated
that they had come from Lhassa in that time, and I do not think that they
can have been far wrong, as the whole distance from the Lippu Pass on the
frontier (near Garbyang) to Lhassa can on horseback be covered in sixteen
days.

[Illustration: MUD GUARD-HOUSE]

The natives, as usual, showed great reticence in letting out the name of
the encampment, some calling it Toxem, others Taddju. North of us was a
low pass in the hill range, and having already seen as much as I wanted
of the Tibetans, it was my intention, if I succeeded in purchasing
provisi