THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 93 



day's journey from Sugnam (which is a large and very 

 wealthy village, inhabited by Tartars) to Shaso, and 

 the road was not particularly bad, though I had to 

 be carried across precipitous slopes where there was 

 scarcely footing for the dandywallahs. My servants 

 had not recovered the Kuhang Pass, however ; and I 

 was so ill that I also was glad to rest the next day at 

 this strange little village in order to prepare for the 

 formidable day's journey to Pu. Shaso consists of 

 only a few houses and narrow terraced fields on the 

 left bank of the Darbting Lung-pa, with gigantic and 

 almost precipitous mountains shading it on either side 

 of the stream. My tent was pitched on a narrow 

 strip of grass amid large willow-trees, apricot-trees, 

 and vines, which promised to bear a plentiful crop 

 of large purple grapes. It was here I engaged the 

 services of the 'youth Nurdass, who proved so useful 

 to me on my further journey. A boy, to be generally 

 xiseful, had been engaged at Kotgarh ; and as no one 

 except himself could pronounce his name or anything 

 like it, he was dubbed " the Chokra," or simply boy. 

 Of all things in the world, he offered himself as a 

 dhobi or washerman, for certainly his washing did 

 not begin at home ; and he disappeared mysteriously 

 the morning after his first attempt in that line, and 

 after we had gone only six marches. Some clothes 

 were given him to wash at JSTachar ; and whether it 

 was the contemplation of these clothes after he had 

 washed them a process which he prolonged far into 



