eal the lake behind
it. I rejoined my men and we continued our march down the other side of
the pass, sinking in deep, soft snow. We pitched our tent at a spot about
five hundred feet higher than the plain below us, in a gorge formed by
the two mountain sides coming close together. Notwithstanding that I was
now quite accustomed to great altitudes, the ascent to 20,000 feet had
caused a certain exhaustion, and I should have been glad of a good
night's rest.

Mansing and Chanden Sing, having eaten some food, slept soundly, but I
felt very depressed. I had a peculiar sense of unrest and of some evil
coming to us during the night.

We were all three under our little tent, when I began to fancy there was
some one outside. I do not know why the thought entered my head, for I
heard no noise, but all the same I felt I must see and satisfy my
curiosity. I peeped out of the tent with my rifle in hand, and saw a
number of black figures cautiously crawling towards us. In a moment I was
outside on my bare feet, running towards them and shouting at the top of
my voice, "_Pila tedau tedang!_" ("Look out, look out!") which caused a
stampede among our ghostlike visitors. There were, apparently, numbers of
them hidden behind rocks, for when the panic seized them, the number of
runaways was double or even treble that of the phantoms I had at first
seen approaching. At one moment there seemed to be black ghosts springing
out from everywhere, only, more solid than ghosts, they made a dreadful
noise with their heavy boots as they ran in confusion down the steep
descent and through the gorge. They turned sharply round the hill at the
bottom and disappeared.

When I crawled inside the tent again Chanden Sing and Mansing, wrapped
head and all in their blankets, were still snoring!

CHAPTER LVIII

A sleepless night--Watching our enemy--A picturesque sight--A
messenger--Soldiers from Lhassa--Taken for a Kashmeree--The
Gunkyo Lake.

NATURALLY I passed a sleepless night after that, fearing that the
unwelcome visitors might return. We speculated much as to how the
Tibetans had found us, and we could not help surmising that our friends
of the previous afternoon must have put them on our track. However, such
was the inconceivable cowardice shown on every occasion by the Tibetans,
that we got to attach no importance to these incidents, and not only did
they not inspire us with fear, but they even ceased to excite or distu