TSEKOU TO KHAMTI 



on rudely improvised bamboo rafts ; the water was quiet, deep, 

 and of a grey-blue colour. Our passage disturbed a number of 

 otters on the brink, who dived before we could o-et a shot at 

 them. For the two succeeding days we climbed a steep and 

 rugged track, catching sight through openings in the woods of 

 an amphitheatre of snow-covered mountains. In the west a 

 high white range running north-east and south-west was 

 identified by us as the alps of Dzayul, on the other side of 

 which lies the basin of the Upper Brahmaputra in Thibet. From 

 our camp at the close of 3rd November nothing could be seen 

 on all sides but mountains and valleys. 



The 4th (November) furnished us with novelty in the 

 manner of routes in this part of the world. Most of our old 

 feats were duly called into play, but with the addition of being 

 e.xercised in the actual torrent. We had camped overnight on 

 its edge, and at starting crossed and recrossed it half a dozen 

 times : ultimately we settled down to ascend it without 

 divergence. It was the simplest plan. All the same, it was 

 as painful as anything we had done. Our own men with their 

 loads struggled bravely against the current, which was suffi- 

 ciently heavy to require a strong stake to steady each step. 

 The naked natives found the waterway admirably suited to 

 their agility. Being barefooted, both had some advantage 

 over us in our boots amoncr the rollin'^>' stones. Stumbling, 

 slipping, plunging, our ears ceaselessly deafened by the relent- 

 less roar of the descending water, we staggered blindly forward 

 all day with barked shins and broken knees in the urgency to 

 make headway. For we had only one day's supplies left. It 

 was emphatically a case of gaining our bread by the sweat of 



our brow. In the evening the Kioutses caught some welcome 



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