stablished only a few coins remained where the sum had been laid
down. Other moneys which they found in one of my loads met with a
similar fate. Among the things arousing the greatest curiosity was an
india-rubber pillow fully blown out. The soft, smooth texture of the
india-rubber seemed to take their fancy. One after the other they rubbed
their cheeks on the cushion, exclaiming at the pleasant sensation it
gave them. In playing with the brass screw by which the cushion was
inflated, they gave it a turn, and the imprisoned air found its way out
with a hissing noise. This created quite a panic among the Tibetans.
Their superstitious minds regarded this hissing as an evil omen.
Naturally I took advantage of any small incident of this kind to work
judiciously on their superstitions and to frighten the natives as much
as I could.

The Tibetans, having examined all except my water-tight cases of
instruments, photographic plates, and sketches, seemed so upset at one
or two things that happened, and at some remarks I made, that they
hurriedly sealed up my property, which they had placed in bags and
wrapped in blankets. They ordered the things to be placed on yaks and
brought into the guard-house of the settlement. This done, they tied the
end of the ropes that bound our necks to the pommels of their saddles,
and, having loosed our feet, they sprang on their ponies and rode off,
with shouts, hisses, and cries of victory, firing their matchlocks in
the air, and dragging us prisoners into the settlement.

On reaching the settlement, my last words to my men before we were
separated were: "No matter what they do to you, do not let them see that
you suffer." They promised to obey me. We were conveyed to different
tents.

I was dragged to one of the larger tents, inside and outside of which
soldiers were placed on guard. They were at first sulky, and rough in
their manner and speech. I always made a point of answering them in a
collected and polite fashion. I had on many previous occasions noticed
that nothing carries one further in dealings with Asiatics than to keep
calm and cool. I felt confident that if we were ever to get out of our
present scrape, it would be by maintaining a perfectly impassive
demeanor in face of anything that might happen.

[Illustration: DRAGGED INTO THE SETTLEMENT]

The tent being kept closed, I was unable to see what was taking place
outside, but I could hear the noise of people rushing here and the