62 ZEMU VALLEY. Chap. XX. 



the door, and seated myself on my bed on the ground, 

 with my gun beside me. 



The dog gave tongue as twenty or thirty people defiled 

 up the glen, and gathered in front of my tent ; they were 

 ragged Bhoteeas, with bare heads and legs, in scanty 

 woollen garments sodden with rain, which streamed off 

 their shaggy hair, and furrowed their sooty faces : their 

 whole appearance recalled to my mind Dugald Dalgetty's 

 friends, the children of the mist. 



They appeared nonplussed at seeing no one with me, 

 and at my paying no attention to them, whilst the valiant 

 Kinchin effectually scared them from the tent-door. When 

 they requested a parley, I sent the interpreter to say that 

 I would receive three men, and that only provided all the 

 rest were sent down immediately ; this, as I anticipated, 

 was acceded to at once, and there remained only the Lachen 

 Phipun and his brother. Without waiting to let him speak, 

 I rated him soundly, saying, that I was ready to leave the 

 spot w r hen he could produce any proof of my being in 

 Bhote (or Cheen), which he knew well I was not ; that, 

 since my arrival at Lachen, he had told me nothing but 

 lies, and had contravened every order, both of the Rajah 

 and of Tchebu Lama. I added, that I had given him and 

 his people kindness and medicine, their return was bad, 

 and he must go about his business at once, having, as I 

 knew, no food, and I having none for him. He behaved 

 very humbly throughout, and finally took himself off much 

 discomfited, and two days afterwards sent men to offer to 

 assist me in moving my things. 



The first of July was such a day as I had long waited 

 for to obtain a view, and I ascended the mountain west of 

 my camp, to a point where water boiling at 185° 7 (air 42°), 

 gave an elevation of 14,914 feet. On the top of the range, 



