UNEXPECTED MEETING. 167 



no small surprise, upon arriving in the 

 strath at the foot of the mountain we had 

 just descended, we found the whole of our 

 quondam friends of three days ago squatted 

 in a circle, exactly as we had left them at 

 Tangee. We went up to them at once, and 

 demanded " what they meant by following us 

 in this manner? " They then became very 

 civil, and replied, that " they had only come 

 to look after their cattle ; " but at the same 

 time begged we would leave their country. 

 This we said we would do, liut that we 

 should go by Polinsundra, to which they 

 now gave their assent, knowing they could 

 not help it ; also being well aware, which 

 we were not, that some hundreds of the 

 Gangoutrie villagers were then there. They 

 come up once or twice a year to exchange 

 salt for flour ; and on arriving at Polinsundra 

 we found not only them, but our letters and 

 provisions in charge of old Jye Sing, who 

 had been detached by us from Chithool. 



We shot from hence down to Melang, and 

 so on to Derallee, where we arrived on the 



