retreat, crawling on hands and knees.

"_Dakus, Dakus!_" ("Brigands, brigands!") they whispered, as I got near
them.

It was too late. We had been seen, and a number of dacoits, armed with
matchlocks and swords, came rapidly towards us. It has always been my
experience that, in such cases, the worst thing to do is to run away, for
nothing encourages a man more than to see that his opponent is afraid of
him. I therefore loaded my Mannlicher, and my bearer did likewise with
the Martini-Henry. I gave orders to the Shokas to squat down by their
respective loads and not stir an inch. We two strolled towards the fast
approaching band, now less than a hundred yards distant. I shouted to
them to stop, and Chanden Sing signalled that they must go back; but they
took no notice of our warnings, and came on all the faster towards us.
Undoubtedly they thought that we were only Shoka traders, and looked,
from experience, to find an easy prey. Making ready to rush us as soon as
they got near enough, they separated with the obvious intention of taking
us on all sides.

[Illustration: SHEEP CARRYING LOAD]

"_Dushu! Dushu!_" ("Go back!") I cried angrily at them, raising my rifle
to my shoulder and taking a steady aim at the leader. Chanden Sing
followed suit with one of the others, and this seemed to have a salutary
effect on them, for they immediately made a comical salaam and took to
their heels, Chanden Sing and I pursuing them for some distance so as to
get them well out of our way. Having occupied a prominent position on a
small mound, we discovered that a short way off they had a number of
mates and some three thousand sheep, presumably their last loot. We
signalled that they must get away from our course, and eventually,
driving their booty before them, they scurried off in the direction I
indicated. When they were well clear of us, and my Shokas, who thought
their last hour had come, had partly recovered from their fright, we
proceeded on our journey, entering the narrow valley between the two hill
ranges. That we were now in a much-frequented region could be plainly
seen from the numerous encamping-grounds alongside the stream. But our
success of the morning had raised our spirits, and we stepped out
cheerily, keeping to the left bank. A steepish climb brought us to a
plateau at an altitude of 16,400 feet, from which we obtained a fine view
of the snow range running from East to West from the Mangshan Mountain to
the Lippu P