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364 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
violently. But he was not in tlie least put out by our
laugliing at him ; he only asked, quite innocently, whether
we put pepper into our snuff.
All at once, Shagdur, hke a genuine Cossack hetman
(chief), cried to me, " What are you sitting there for, boy,
with your mouth open ? Go and drive in the horses."
Up I jumped, and like an arrow sped off up the hillside ;
but I confess I was greatly relieved when I saw Sampo
Singhi waddling off back to his own tent ;
for had he
stopped to watch my proceedings, he could hardly have
helped saying to himself, " A precious lot that fellow knows
about driving in mules !
"
That night we felt a good deal safer than we had done
before. After our unexpected meeting with the yak-
hunters, we had not encountered any further natives,
although we knew perfectly well that they were hovering
around us like evil spirits ; indeed, one night they had, as
I have said, actually attacked us. Sampo Singhi assured
us there were no robbers in that part of the country ;
never-
theless, we did not trust to that, but kept watch all night
as usual.
When I was called early on the ist August, amazing to
say, it was not raining ! Our neighbours, two men and a
woman, were already on their way to pay us a visit, so that
we had to hustle away various small articles which might
possibly have betrayed the presence of a mysterious stranger.
Sampo Singhi was again the spokesman, and he began to
praise the various dainties he had brought with him to sell
to us—a big piece of greasy fat, a bowl of sour milk, a dish
of powdered cheese, a can of fresh milk, a " lump " of cream,
and a fine sheep. My word, but we should just fare like
princes ! said he. Powdered cheese is one of the ingre-
dients in tsamba, the others being flour, tea, and lumps of
fat or butter, with occasionally a few pieces of raw dried
meat added, all stirred together in a bowl, into which every
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