rsum province was said to be infested with brigands. We
had, therefore, to proceed cautiously, especially as my Shokas seemed
quite afraid. We had hardly gone half a mile over the rolling country,
and I had stopped behind my men to take observations with my prismatic
compass, when my carriers suddenly threw themselves flat on the ground
and began to retreat, crawling on hands and knees.

"_Daku! daku!_" (Brigands! brigands!) they whispered, as I got near
them.

It was too late. We had been detected, and a number of dacoits, armed
with matchlocks and swords, came rapidly toward us. It has always been
my experience that, in such cases, the worst thing to do is to run away,
for nothing encourages a man more to attack you than to show that you
are afraid. I therefore loaded my Mannlicher rifle. My bearer did
likewise with the Martini-Henry. I gave orders to the Shokas to squat
down by their respective loads and to remain still. My bearer and I
strolled toward the fast-approaching band, now less than a hundred yards
distant. I shouted to them to stop. Chanden Sing signalled to them to go
back. They took no notice of our warnings, and came on all the faster
toward us. Undoubtedly they thought that we were merely Shoka traders,
and expected to find an easy prey. They had conceived a good plan of
attack. When they prepared to rush us, on getting near enough, they
separated with the obvious intention of attacking us on all sides.

"_Dushu! Dushu!_" (Go back! Go back!) I cried angrily at them, raising
my rifle to my shoulder and taking a steady aim at the leader. Chanden
Sing did the same with one of the other men. This seemed to have a good
effect upon them, for they immediately made a comical salaam and took to
their heels, Chanden Sing and I pursuing them for some distance in order
to get them well out of the way. We watched them from a mound close by,
and discovered that a short distance off these robbers had many
companions, as well as some three thousand sheep, presumably the results
of their last robbery. We motioned to them to get away from our course,
and finally, driving their sheep before them, they went off in the
direction I pointed out to them. When they were clear of us, and my
Shokas, who thought their last hour had come, had partly recovered from
their fright, we proceeded on our journey, entering the narrow valley
between the two hill ranges which I have already mentioned.

That we were now in a much-frequent