entions, and begged me to
stop 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!" shouted one soldier, getting into a
temper, and taking advantage of our politeness toward him and his
companions.

"_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
toward 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. When I moved toward the
pass, on which hundreds of flying-prayers flapped in the wind, I
politely bade them good-bye with tongue out, and waving both my hands,
palms upward, in front of my forehead in the most approved Tibetan
style. The soldiers 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 Rakastal, Mansarowar, and Gunkyo lakes.
On the pass itself were planted several poles connected by ropes, from
which flying-prayers waved gayly in the breeze. _Obos_, or mounds of
stones, had been erected. The slabs used in the construction of these
_obos_ were mostly white, and bore in many instances the inscription
"_Omne mani padme hun_." Yak, goat, and sheep skulls were laid by the
side of the _obos_, the above four words being engraved on the bone, and
stained red with the blood of the animals killed.

Sacrifices are offered by Tibetans when crossing a high pass, especially
if there is a Lama close at hand to commemorate the event. The meat of
the animal killed is eaten by the people present. If the party is a
large one, dancing and singing follow the feast. _Obos_ are found all
over the country, generally on passes or summits of hills. No Tibetan
ever goes by one of these _obos_ without depositing on it a white
stone.

CHAPTER XVI

FIRST WHITE MAN IN THE SACRED PROVINCE

The Maium Pass (17,500 feet), as far as which no white man had ever
penetrated, is a great landmark in Tibet. Not only does one of the
sources of the great Tsangpu, or Brahmaputra River, rise on its
south-east slop