ys, and never dreamed
that we should be where we were. We covered them well with our rifles,
but we had no occasion to fire. They rode on. The sound of their
horse-bells grew fainter and fainter as they disappeared on the other
side of the pass. These horsemen were probably soldiers despatched by
the Tarjum to guard this track. They were now on their way back to their
master, satisfied that the Englishman was not to be found in that part
of the country.

We named that spot "Terror Camp," for many and horrible were the
experiences that befell us there. Another weary day dragged slowly to
its close, and no sign of the messengers' return. Two men volunteered to
go into Kardam, a settlement some miles off. There they would try to
obtain food from the Tibetans. One of them had a friend at that place.
He would try to buy from him sufficient provisions to enable us to go on
a few days longer.

Disguised as pilgrims, a disguise not difficult to assume, for their
clothes were falling to pieces owing to the rough marching we had done
of late, the men started and were away the whole day. When they returned
late at night they had an amusing tale to tell. Meeting a tribe of
Dogpas, they had boldly entered their camp, asking to purchase food.
Unfortunately the Dogpas had not sufficient for themselves, and could
not spare any. Incidentally my men were informed that _Lando Plenki_
(the name the Tibetans had given me) had taken a large army of men into
Tibet. Great excitement prevailed at Taklakot as well as at other
places, owing to the fact that the Englishman had the strange power of
making himself invisible when the Tibetan soldiers were near him. He
had been heard of in many places in Tibet. Soldiers had been sent in all
directions to capture him. His tracks had several times been discovered
and followed. Yet he could never be found. Messengers had been hastily
sent out from Taklakot to Lhassa (sixteen days' journey), and to Gartok,
a great market in West Tibet, asking for soldiers to assist in the
capture of this strange invader, who was also said to have the power of
walking on water when crossing rivers and of flying over mountains when
he chose.

When I recalled our struggles and sufferings in climbing over the
mountains and in crossing the streams on our journey, this account of
myself given by the Tibetans, and now repeated to me, struck me as
almost cruelly ironical. I was pleased that the Tibetans credited me
with such