. I watched the long procession from behind some rocks,
and felt somewhat relieved when the last horsemen, who passed only some
twenty yards from me, rode away with the rest of the caravan. I retraced
my steps, and judging that this camp was not quite so safe as I had at
first supposed, I proceeded, with the aid of my men, to erect a rough
entrenchment and wall round our platform, along the rock under which we
lived. These bulwarks answered the double purpose of sheltering us from
the sight of the Tibetans and of acting as fortifications in case of a
night attack. All our things were buried a little way above our camp.

Another long dreary day had elapsed. We had used our last grain of salt;
and yet another day on nettles alone; and a third day and a fourth, on
the same diet! How sick we got of nettles! The days seemed endless as,
lying flat on a peak above our camp, I remained hour after hour scanning
with my telescope the long plateau above the Gakkon River in search of
our returning messengers. Every time I perceived men in the distance my
heart leaped, but on focussing them with my glass they turned out to be
Jogpas (bandits), or Dogpas (nomad tribes of smugglers), or travelling
Humlis or Jumlis, on their way to Gyanema and Gartok. And how many times
did we not listen and then anxiously peep through the fissures in our
fortifications when some unusual noise struck our ears! As time went on,
and they did not put in an appearance, we began to entertain doubts as
to their safety, or would they betray us and never return? Or, as was
more likely, had they been caught by the Jong Pen (the master of the
fort), and been imprisoned and tortured?

My bearer, who was somewhat of a _bon vivant_, declined to eat any more
food, as he said it was better not to eat at all than to eat the same
thing constantly. He swore he could fast for ten days, and he made up for
want of food by sleeping.

My fortified abode was comfortable enough during the morning, when the
sun shone on it, though often it got so warm that we had to abandon it in
the middle of the day, when the thermometer registered as much as 120 deg.,
122 deg., and even 124 deg.. From 1 P.M. till 10 at night a bitter wind blew from
the S.E., and seemed to get right into our bones; so cold was it that the
temperature suddenly dropped down to 60 deg., and even lower, the moment the
sun disappeared behind the mountains, and continued to fall as low as
40 deg., 34 deg. and 32 d