oat marching ahead
of the rest. His attitude was very arrogant, and, dispensing with the
usual salutations, he approached quite close, shaking his fist at me.

"_Kiu mahla lokhna nga rah luck tiba tangan_" ("I will give you a goat or
a sheep if you will go back"), he said.

"_Kiu donna nga di tangon_" ("And I give you this to make you go back!")
was my quick answer, while I unexpectedly administered him one straight
from the shoulder that sent him flat on his back and sprawling on the
ground.

The army, which, with its usual prudence, was watching events from a
respectful distance, beat a hasty retreat. The officer, though unhurt,
scrambled away, screaming. The Tibetans had so far behaved with such
contemptible cowardice that we could hardly congratulate ourselves on
such easy successes. We began to feel that really we had no enemy at all
before us, and very likely we became even careless. Anyhow, we ate our
food and gave this affair but little thought.

[Illustration: A MANI WALL ON THE ROAD TO LHASSA]

The Tibetans kept their distance, and did not trouble us again that day.
Those who had not ridden off retired timidly inside their black tents,
and not a soul was to be seen about the encampment--which might have been
deserted, so silent and so empty did it appear. I registered my daily
observations, made a sketch of one of the black tents, and wrote up my
diary; after which we raised camp.

[Illustration: "AND I GIVE YOU THIS TO MAKE YOU GO BACK"]

Our progress was now comparatively easy, along a broad grassy plain, and
we proceeded without further disturbance in a South-easterly direction,
observing a high snowy peak at 20 deg. (b.m.), and a low pass in the mountain
range to our North-east at 55 deg. (b.m.). A very high range stood ahead of
us in the far distance, with low hills between. In going round one of
these lonely hills we found at the foot of it another and more important
_mani_ wall of some length, with numberless inscriptions of all ages and
sizes on stones, pieces of bone, skulls and horns. Farther on, to the
South, there were three smaller hillocks and two larger ones. The
soldiers we had routed at the encampment had proceeded in the direction
we were now following, and we were, in fact, treading all along on the
footprints of their ponies.

We had to cross a river and a number of rivulets, and so troublesome was
it each time to take off one's shoes and clothes to wade through, that
we bundled up