160 TIBET. Chap. XXIII. 



the Tchebu Lama and Phipun, the Dingpun and twenty 

 men came up, and very civilly but formally forbade their 

 crossing the frontier ; but that upon explaining his motives, 

 and representing that it would save him ten days' journey, 

 the Dingpun had relented, and promised to conduct the 

 whole party to the Donkia pass. 



We pitched our little tent in the corner of the cattle-pen, 

 and our coolies soon afterwards came up ; mine were in 

 capital health, though suffering from headaches, but 

 Campbell's were in a distressing state of illness and fatigue, 

 with swollen faces and rapid pulses, and some were insen- 

 sible from symptoms like pressure on the brain ; * these 

 were chiefly Ghorkas (Nepalese). The Tibetan Dingpun and 

 his guard arrived last of all, he was a droll little object, short, 

 fat, deeply marked with small-pox, swarthy, and greasy ; he 

 was robed in a green woollen mantle, and was perched on 

 the back of a yak, which also carried his bedding, and 

 cooking utensils, the latter rattling about its flanks, horns, 

 neck, and every point of support : two other yaks bore the 

 tents of the party. His followers were tall savage looking 

 fellows, with broad swarthy faces, and their hair in short 

 pig-tails. They wore the long-sleeved cloak, short trousers, 

 and boots, all of thick Avoollen, and felt caps on their 

 heads. Each was armed with a long matchlock slung 

 over his back, with a moveable rest having two prongs 

 like a fork, and a hinge, so as to fold up along the barrel, 

 when the prongs project behind the shoulders like antelope 

 horns, giving the uncouth warrior a droll appearance. 



* I have never experienced bleeding at the nose, ears, lips or eyelids, either in 

 my person or that of my companions, on these occasions ; nor did I ever meet 

 with a recent traveller who has. Dr. Thomson has made the same remark, and 

 when in Switzerland together we were assured by Auguste Balmat, Francois 

 Coutet, and other experienced Mont Blanc guides, that they never witnessed 

 these symptoms nor the blackness of the sky, so frequently insisted upon by 

 alpine travellers. 



