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344 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
In the evening one of the men told us that in a neigh-
bouring glen he had seen fresh footprints of Tibetans,
both on horseback and on- foot, and during the preceding
night the dogs had barked furiously in that direction.
It was already whispered in the camp that we were being
watched by spies. At length I turned in for my last night’s
sleep under " civihzed " conditions, slept soundly and
well and did not wake till Shagdur came and called me
next morning.
I made haste to dress, and in the course of a few minutes
stepped forth a full-fledged Mongol. My long dark-red
coat fitted me comfortably, and round my waist I had a
yellow girdle and on my head a little yellow cap, with the
lappets turned up. For a couple of weeks or so I had
already been wearing the clumsy Mongol boots, so as to
get accustomed to them ; their turned-up toes and thick
soles make them especially suitable for soft, wet ground.
The high Mongol saddle, with its framework of wood and
its soft seat, was easy to ride in, although the stirrups
were buckled up high, in the Mongol fashion, so that my
knees were drawn up. Behind the saddle was my yellow
sheep-skin overcoat ; at the moment of starting I did not
require it, for the sun was warm and pleasant.
At length our little caravan was ready ; we mounted
and were off. I wished the honest Mussulmans had not
made quite such a fuss ; it led me to think of a funeral.
But they, no doubt, honestly believed they would never
see us again. For my own part, I did not doubt that
the Almighty hand, which had watched over my footsteps
through the deserts and over the mountains during so
m.any years of solitary wandering in the vast wilds of
Asia, would be with me still. As for Shagdur, he was
delighted to know that we really were at last on the way,
and the Lama sat in his saddle as grave as an owl. I
asked him whether he had any hesitation about the journey,
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