42 Up the Mekong Valley 
vary, but the speed is nothing like as great as one is 
tempted to believe. 
But to return to our own experiences. I had sent two 
of the soldiers on ahead to procure slings from the nearest 
house, and when I arrived at the bridge I found them 
already on the scene. The soldiers who had escorted me 
from Wei-hsi, however, were all afraid of the rope bridge 
now they found themselves face to face with it, and 
Ho-shing was on the verge of tears at the prospect of 
crossing. Seeing that we should never get over at this 
rate, I decided to go first myself, though as a matter of 
fact I felt as diffident as anybody; and my feelings were 
still further harrowed by the performance of a soldier, who, 
after allowing the Tibetans to tie him up, thought better 
of it just as they were about to let go, and with pitiful 
entreaties begged to be untied. 
I now stepped forward, and with as little delay as 
possible the Tibetans suspended me skilfully from the 
well-greased slider, one pair of thongs passing under my 
thighs, the other under my arm-pits, so that I hung close 
beneath the rope; and thus secured I advanced to the 
edge of the platform. Everybody crowded round and 
gave me excellent advice which I did not understand, 
telling me exactly how it was done; but as it was obvious 
that the only point of importance was to keep well clear of 
the rope, while for the sake of comfort I kept a firm hand on 
the top of the slider, I did not pay much attention to them. 
“Let go!” and at the word I was whirled into space. 
Whiz! a rush of air, a catch of the breath, a smell of 
something burning—the rope gets very hot—the hum of 
the slider over the twisted strands, a snap-view of the 
muddy river foaming below, and I was slowing down 
where the rope sagged at the other end. It was all over 
in a moment, and pulling myself up the few remaining feet 
to the platform, I untied and stood up on the opposite 
bank. After that first experience there was nothing | 
enjoyed so much as a trip across a rope bridge. 
The boxes were slung over in exactly the same way, 
but as they were not capable of hauling themselves up to 
the platform, it was sometimes necessary for a man to 
attach himself to a sling, work his way slowly along the 
