Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XX.—On the Way to the Arka-tagh
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
302 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
to his own country with his honour unsullied. Accordingly
I now told him that it was my fixed purpose to try and enter
Lassa disguised as a Mongol, and accompanied by him and
Shagdur. For a while he sat speechless, staring at me, and
then ejaculated that the plan was absolutely impossible.
" They will not dare to touch you or Shagdur, Sir, but I am
a lama and should lose my head. And if they did not kill
me, my future would certainly be ruined ; I should be
looked upon as a traitor and a renegade if I guided a Euro-
pean to Lassa. The Dalai Lama, the Mongol pilgrims, and
the Chinese amhan are not dangerous ; but think of all the
Tibetans who guard the roads leading to Lassa, and of all
the priests in the temples w^ho knew me when I was there
studying in the university."
As I still persisted in my plan, the Lama suggested that
it would be much better if the entire caravan were to march
straight towards the capital of Tibet, for in that case we
should only at the worst be politely, but firmly, turned
back ; and he might then disguise himself as a Turk, and
none of his friends would ever suspect that he was in our
company. At present, however, he would go with us as far
as the Kum-kol, and if he then decided to return he could
do so with the ass-drivers, for by that time we should cer-
tainly be able to do without their caravan. I proposed,
therefore, that he should remain with the caravan, whilst I
and the two Buriats rode towards Lassa, but this compro-
mise did not jump with his ambition. " I cannot desert my
master just when he requires me most," he said. During
the days that followed he sat buried in his deep Mongol
saddle, moody and fuh of thought. He considered it was
mean of Shagdur not to have told him what I wanted him
for, until I explained to him that Shagdur was only acting
according to orders. We discussed the question as we rode
up and down the glens, and again every evening when
it grew dusk ; and during all this time Shereb Lama suffered
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
