Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XXIV.—Tibetan Nomads—A Dangerous River-crossing
<< 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.
366 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
one of our boxes two or three rolls of Chinese silk. You
should just have seen how the little piggish eyes of Sampo
Singhi’s better-half glistened with covetousness when she
saw it ! She stroked the rustling material with her big
black paws and feasted her eyes upon it lovingly, as if she
intended to make a ball-room dress out of it. After that
the price was settled in a jiffy.
Besides this, I told Sampo Singhi that he might keep the
sheepskin in return for the hospitality he had shown us.
Upon hearing this he rose at once, and eagerly set about
killing the animal, though I confess I never saw a sheep
killed in a more barbarous way. After tying together three
of its legs, and binding a rope tight round its mouth, he
knelt upon its horns, which were stretched out flat on the
ground. In this way he held the poor beast as in a vice,
and then thurst his thumb and forefinger into its nostrils
to suffocate it. The sheep struggled and kicked to get
loose, and its eyes started out of its head, while Sampo
Singhi gabbled desperately fast, " On maneh padmeh hum."
At length his victim was quiet and its legs collapsed.
Thereupon the Tibetan got up and cut its throat. This
scene was very painful to witness ; but I did not dare to
move a muscle, or in any way interfere, for fear of betraying
myself.
Madam Sampo Singhi was dressed in precisely the same
way as her husband. Her coarse black hair was gathered
up into two plaits, besides which there were any number of
rats’ tails and matted locks sticking out at all angles. The
felt top-boots which she wore were adorned with parti-
coloured embroidery of a simple pattern, and had no doubt
been rather handsome when new. But how in the world
the woman had managed to accumulate such an amount of
dirt upon her countenance was a complete puzzle to me.
My fine skin, upon which I in vain attempted to maintain
the proper degree of incrustation, was continuallv being
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
