mmit of the Chandernagiri pass--The scenery of Nepaul--The pass of
Bhimphede--Night quarters_.

It was out of the question my leaving Katmandu without paying a farewell
visit to the Minister's two younger brothers, Juggut and Colonel Dhere
Shum Shere, so I hurried over in the afternoon to their house, which was
situated in the centre of the town. On my road I met them driving in a
buggy, the only one of which the town could boast, and, as it is not
considered _infra dig_. in Katmandu to go three in a gig, I jumped in
between them, and we were soon tearing along the narrow street at a most
reckless pace, and finally pulled up in a small square, where a great
crowd seemed to be waiting for something to take place. A Katmandu crowd
doubtless possesses the same instinct in this respect that crowds in
civilized parts of the world do, and, as it proved, they were quite right
in their expectations, for the exhibition which almost immediately
followed was well worth seeing. The Colonel said he had something to
show us, but we could perceive nothing out of the common except a huge
bull buffalo, whose head was firmly lashed to a stake fixed in the court-
yard, so that it touched it from his forehead to his nose; he was then
blindfolded, his legs were planted some distance apart, and he stood
snorting at his confined position. Meantime we had jumped out of the
buggy, the young Colonel, stripping himself of all superfluous clothing,
had grasped a "korah," or native sword, and, first laying the keen edge
of it gently upon the exposed neck of the buffalo, he drew himself to his
full height, and raised his korah high above his head. Every muscle
extended, every fibre strained, he seemed to concentrate his strength in
a wonderful manner into that blow which was at one stroke to sever the
extended neck of the buffalo. Down came the sword with sweeping force. I
looked eagerly for the result; when suddenly his hand was arrested
midway, and with a look of vexation the Colonel _let off the steam_ he
had got up for the occasion, as he pointed to one of the buffalo's legs;
it had been moved an inch inwards, and that was sufficient to cause the
failure of the operation. Three or four times did this occur, and it
seemed essentially necessary to the success of the feat that the legs of
the animal should be perfectly stationary in a particular position. How
little was the buffalo aware that each movement he made prolonged his
life some se