uised, with no bones broken.

[Illustration: CHIRAM]

My fingers were cut by the ice and bleeding. When I was able to stand, I
signalled to the frightened and wailing coolies above to go on, and I
myself proceeded along the watercourse until I found a spot from which I
could regain the upper track.

CHAPTER XIV

A palaver--To see is to believe--Dangers and perils on the snow
and ice--_Thar_ and _Ghural_--Stalking--A tiring climb to 16,000
feet--The collapse of a snow bridge.

AT Kuti I halted and summoned the leading natives to my tent.

Would it be possible, I asked them, to get over the Lumpiya Pass or the
still higher Mangshan? The first is a rarely frequented pass on the way
to Gyanema, the other a high and most difficult pass by which it is
possible, though not easy, to reach the Rakstal Lake by the jungle
without going near a Tibetan settlement or encampment.

"No," was the decided answer from all the Shokas. "The snow is now too
deep. Fresh snow falls daily. For another fortnight at least no human
being can get across. To attempt it will mean losing one's life. At their
best during one month in summer, those two passes are arduous and
dangerous. Now it would be mere folly to attempt their ascent."

With my distressingly sceptical nature I believe little that I do not
see. I started next morning to observe for myself. My bearings were
roughly North-West. Seeing me determined, several of the Kutial Shokas
changed their mind and volunteered to follow me. They were of
considerable help in many dangerous places. Here and there a few paces of
narrow track were uncovered, otherwise we went long distances on frozen
snow, over precipices down which it was almost fatal to look.

The lucky hairbreadth escape of the previous day contributed to make me
lose confidence, not in myself, but in that white emblem of purity and
innocence, in reality the most treacherous substance in creation. I soon
found that wherever there was snow there was trouble. In spots where the
snow was particularly hard frozen we dared not attempt to walk on the
steep slippery surface, and we had to descend to the river, which was
here bridged over completely with ice and snow. Crossing, we would
attempt progress on the other side, and having proceeded with difficulty
for a few hundred yards, had to retrace our steps and try the first bank
again. We thus crossed and recrossed the Kuti River more than
half-a-dozen times, e