112 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



our requests his most careful consideration and let us 

 know his decision later on. 



After they had departed, mounted on ponies capari- 

 soned in a gaudy manner with coloured saddle-cloths and 

 tassels of yak's hair — for they never walk a yard unneces- 

 sarily — there came half the population of Taklakhar in 

 relays to our tent doors, to inspect our kit and satisfy 

 their curiosity. The monastic element seemed to pre- 

 ponderate ; and lamas of all grades and equal dirtiness 

 came in troops, all using praying machines, some of 

 which we purchased. They are round brass boxes with a 

 handle, and a weight which swings the box round on the 

 handle. Inside, the prayers are written on hundreds of 

 strips of paper. The prayers, to be effective, must on no 

 account be twisted the wrong way. There came also 

 women, who were so like the men as to be undistinguish- 

 able ; but many had black smudges over their cheeks, 

 so as not to attract admiration too generally. They 

 were quite ugly enough without trying to disfigure them- 

 selves further. Nature had made them hideous, with 

 broad red cheeks and squat noses. The children were 

 jolly, laughing, little bundles of rags, like their parents. 

 Whether they kill their female children or not, it is a 

 fact that women are in a great minority among these 

 Huns, a circumstance also noted by Gibbon. 



Next day the Zung-pun agreed to let us go for one 

 month's trip north-east, provided we promised not to go 

 near Manasarowar ; but, to protect himself, he said we 

 must put up the bridge ourselves and pretend to have a 

 great fight, so that he should be able to report his being 

 overpowered by numbers. The whisky was again drawn 

 upon, and we presented the lama with a piece of scarlet 

 broadcloth sufficient for a full coat, and the Nirbah with 

 some gunpowder. They were much pleased, and became 



