pressed satisfaction at riding such an
excellent pony. This seemed to puzzle them.

[Illustration: THE RIDE ON A SPIKED SADDLE]

A cord of yak's hair, about forty or fifty yards long, was now produced,
the swivel attached to one end of it fastened to my handcuffs, and the
other end held by a horseman. We set off again on our wild career, this
time followed not only by the guard, but by the Pombo and all his men.
Once or twice I could not help turning round to see what they were about.
The cavalcade was a weird and picturesque sight, the riders with their
many-coloured dresses, their matchlocks with red flags, their jewelled
swords, their banners with long ribbons of all colours flying in the
wind; all galloping furiously, shouting, yelling and hissing, amidst a
deafening din of thousands of horse-bells.

In order to accelerate our speed, a horseman rode by my side lashing my
pony to make it go its hardest. Meanwhile the horseman who held the cord
did his utmost to pull me out of the saddle, no doubt in the hope of
seeing me trampled to death by the cohort behind me. As I leaned my body
forward so as to maintain my seat, and with my arms pulled violently
backwards by the rope, the flesh was rubbed off my hands and knuckles by
the chain of the handcuffs. In places the bone was exposed; and, of
course, every tug brought me into forcible contact with the spikes and
inflicted deeper wounds. The cord, though strong, eventually and
unexpectedly gave way. The soldier who was pulling at the other end was
clumsily unhorsed, and I myself was all but thrown by the unexpected
jerk. This ludicrous incident at first provoked mirth among my escort, a
mirth which their superstitious minds immediately turned into an ill
omen.

[Illustration: COAT I WORE AT THE TIME OF MY CAPTURE, AND SHOWING EFFECT
OF SPIKES]

When my pony was stopped, as well as the runaway steed of the dismounted
cavalier, I took advantage of their fears, and assured them once more
that whatever harm they tried to do me would go against themselves.
However, the cord was retied with sundry strong knots, and, after an
interruption of a few minutes, we resumed our breakneck gallop, I being
again sent on in front.

Towards the end of our journey we had to go round the curve of a
sandhill, the track between this and a large pond at its foot being very
narrow. At this point I saw in front of me a soldier posted in ambush,
with his matchlock ready to fire. The pony san