, whoever they were. The dog, however, would not go. He
remained outside barking all night, and it was only in the morning, when
I gave him some food and caressed him in Tibetan fashion, with the usual
words of endearment, "_Chochu, Chochu_," that our four-footed foe became
friendly, rubbing himself against my legs as if he had known me all his
life, and taking a particular fancy to Mansing, by whose side he lay
down. From that day he never left our camp, and followed us everywhere,
until harder times came upon us.

CHAPTER LXII

Leaving the course of the river--A pass--An arid plain--More
vanishing soldiers--Another river--A _mani_ wall--_Mirage?_--A
large Tibetan encampment--The chain of mountains North of us.

THE river was turning too much towards the South, so I decided to abandon
it and strike across country, especially as there were faint signs of a
track leading over a pass to 110 deg. (b.m.) from camp. I followed this
track, and along it I distinguished marks of hundreds of ponies' hoofs,
now almost entirely washed away. This was evidently the way taken by the
soldiers we had encountered on the other side of the Maium Pass.

Having risen over the col 17,750 feet, we saw before us an extensive
valley with barren hills scattered over it. To the South we observed a
large plain some ten miles wide, with snowy peaks rising on the farther
side. In front was a hill projecting into the plain, on which stood a
_mani_ wall; and this latter discovery made me feel quite confident that
I was on the high road to Lhassa. About eight miles off to the NNW. were
high snowy peaks, and as we went farther we found a lofty mountain range,
with still higher peaks, three miles behind it. We had travelled half-way
across the waterless plain, when we noticed a number of soldiers' heads
and matchlocks popping in and out from behind a distant hill. After a
while they came out in numbers to observe our movements, then retired
again behind the hill. We proceeded, but when we were still half a mile
from them they abandoned their hiding-place, and galloped away before us,
raising clouds of dust. From a hill 16,200 feet, over which the track
crossed, we perceived a group of very high snowy peaks about eight miles
distant. Between them and us stood a range of hills cut by a valley,
along which flowed a river carrying a large volume of water. This we
followed to 126 deg. (b.m.), and having found a suitable fording-place,