28o THE UPPER BASPA 



night ; in the morniEg everything was hidden in a white 

 sheet. 



Danam Panboh had said there was nothing to be had in 

 the Zarang direction, and that last year two sahibs, whose 

 names sounded in his mouth like " Charley " and " Davis," 

 had crossed the frontier some distance away to the east, 

 and in consequence the Tibetan ofhcials in charge of that 

 portion of the frontier had all been beheaded, their bodies 

 sewn up in leather bags and thrown into the river. He 

 could not name the place where this had occurred ; but as 

 soon as I mentioned Darjiling and Jalap-la, he at once 

 repeated those names several times, and said those were 

 the places. Since then, he said, fresh orders had come, 

 enforcing greater strictness in guarding the passes and 

 preventing Europeans from crossing. This was the only 

 result of the much-trumpeted Macaulay Mission ! 



The night of the 4th June brought a very hard frost. 

 Even stones and rocks were glazed into shining smoothness 

 till the sun touched them. I went out at 7 a.m. to look 

 for barhal, in the hope that the inclement weather had 

 driven them down from cloudland, and after a short walk 

 I saw some on the slope below the peak where I spent 

 that memorable night 17,000 feet above sea level. I 

 watched the barhal till there was a chance of getting 

 closer ; but as this did not occur till ten o'clock, I sent for 

 breakfast. With the telescope I could make them out 

 quite plainly : there were twelve lying about with their 

 legs stretched out and their heads on the ground, just 

 like so many dogs. The only ram in the flock lay at full 

 length, the picture of repose ; I could fancy I heard him 

 snoring. They were all manifestly enjoying a mid-day nap 

 in the warm sun after the bad weather of the last few 

 days. After half an hour's rest and breakfast I began the 

 ascent, a most trying one, as the slope was frightfully steep. 



