246 Sport and Life in the Further Himalaya 



the cloud of dust appears once more, heralding 

 the approach of another caravan. Again the 

 black mass of yaks draws near and the same scene 

 is enacted, and so on for a fortnight, with a few 

 days' interval between each caravan. A few days 

 behind the rearmost caravan comes a party of 

 a different kind, whose arrival is announced by 

 a confused jangle of bells. At the head rides 

 an advanced party of two men, one of whom 

 bears a red standard. They are clad in red 

 velvet frocks shaped after the Tibetan manner, 

 confined round their waists by Jcammarbands, in 

 which are stuck crossways long swords with 

 silver scabbards, incrusted with turquoises and 

 corals. Their hair is smoothed down in a straight 

 fringe over their eyes, making their already low 

 Mongolian foreheads appear still lower. Felt 

 Tibetan caps with turned-up brims surmount 

 their heads, and the costume is completed by 

 long riding-boots of red and white numdah. 

 A little distance behind there comes a caravan 

 consisting of a hundred or more mules of good 

 size and quality, laden with bales and chests, 

 with a driver to every ten or so ; and behind 

 these again ride a company of apparently some 

 rank and title. It is time, however, before 

 describing these, that the reader should be 

 afforded some enlightenment as to the meaning of 



