HAWKING: FUNERALS: ROBBERY 101 



or down. We encountered several men carrying 

 hawks on rests. They hunted pigeons, pheasants 

 and small birds. A little bird called the rock 

 thrush, of which we afterwards saw great num- 

 bers, is attractive. They have white heads, dark 

 bodies, and red tails, which they are for ever 

 flirting up and down. 



We met funeral parties on different occasions. 

 The real procession kept on its appointed course, 

 whilst a false trail of paper money and little white 

 flags lured unsophisticated devils away from the 

 deceased ! A white cock was tied on the top of the 

 bier, for the spirit of the dead man is supposed to 

 find a resting place in the bird. 



Soon after we had passed through one of the 

 small country towns which dotted the country, two 

 prosperous merchants jogging sedately through the 

 west suburb were set upon by highwaymen armed 

 with sticks, heavy iron chains, etc. Not content 

 with robbing them, their assailants gave each a 

 sound beating ; then, mounting their horses, rode off 

 and escaped scot-free. 



Leaving the plateau (about 4,500 feet) on which we 

 had been travelling, we rose* to 7,000 feet or more a 

 few days before reaching our destination and found 

 ourselves in the district of flat roofs, prayer flags and 

 other signs of Thibetan influence. The remains of 

 fine natural fir woods, in the shape of sacred groves, 

 showed what splendid forests must once have 

 covered these hills. Though, as I have said, the 

 scenery improves towards the western border, I 

 have never seen anything in the shape of a hill 

 which appealed to me less than the terraced ex- 

 crescences through which one travels in this part of 



