lost no time
in placing the muzzle of my Mannlicher rifle close to his face. The
surprised Shoka, dropping his knife, went down on his knees and begged
my pardon. He received a good pounding with the butt of my rifle. I felt
I had better ascertain that no further disturbance took place during the
night. Two men attempted to crawl out of camp and desert, but I
discovered them and stopped them in time. At last the sun rose, and the
night ended with all its troubles and anxieties.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 5: Usually called "Shigatze" on English maps.]

CHAPTER X

AMONG ENEMIES AND ROBBERS

On my last scouting journey up the hill above Terror Camp I had seen, by
the aid of my telescope, the encampment of a guard of Tibetans about
three miles north of us.

In the morning we dug up the main part of the baggage we had buried, and
made ready to start. One of my men, named Nattoo, came forward and
professed to be able to guide me directly to the Mansarowar Lake. He
seemed anxious to undertake this task, saying that there would be no
chance of being seen by Tibetans by the route he knew, and therefore we
might march during the daytime.

Led by this man, we started up the creek. I was astonished at the
willingness with which the Shokas agreed to proceed. In a short time I
felt convinced that Nattoo was deliberately taking us to the spot I most
wished to avoid. On my remonstrating and stopping farther progress in
that direction, the Shokas mutinied, and, laying down their loads, tried
to escape. Chanden Sing quickly barred their way ahead in the narrow
creek. I prevented their escape from the opposite side. They had to
surrender. They were all severely punished there and then. On being
closely cross-examined, they confessed that they had made a plot to
hand me over to the Tibetan guard, in order to escape themselves the
horrors of torture by the Tibetans. This last act of treachery, coming
after what had happened during the night, and from the very men to whom
I had been so kind, was too much for me. I used a stick, which Chanden
Sing handed me, freely on their backs and legs--Nattoo receiving the
largest share of blows, because he was undoubtedly the leader of the
conspiracy.

On climbing to a high point of vantage I made another discovery. Besides
the guard we had to the north of us, both east and west our way was
barred by Tibetan soldiers. It was not possible to get on during the day
without being seen. I abs