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Zr- ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
of our things destroyed, water drip, dripping incessantly
from tlie boxes, the animals, our own clothes ! After
many desperate attempts we at length succeeded in lighting
a fire, which, however, hissed and spluttered and filled the
tent with foul reek. Nevertheless, I stripped from head to
foot, and wrung out my dripping clothes, and spent the
night trying to dry them a little ; to expect to dry them
completely was not to be thought of, for the rain still con-
tinued to pour steadily down.
Grim and pitiless, night settled down upon the earth,
while the moon did not condescend to cast even the most
fugitive glimpse upon the rain-drenched mountains of
Tibet. Out on the hillsides it was windy and dark, and the
rain pelted down drearily, dismally, without a moment’s
cessation. The tent canvas flapped like a sail with a hole
in it, and we kept fancying we could sometimes hear
stealthily footsteps, sometimes mounted men, stealing
towards our tent. Twice, and from different directions, we
heard shouts during the night. Could it be the pilgrims
from Kum-bum ? Surely they would not be so mad as to
attempt to cross the Saju-sangpo with their yaks ? The
night-watching was making us nervous and unstrung ; we
started at every sound. Our journey was no longer a secret,
for we had already been in contact with the Tibetans. But
we were already well on towards the heart of the mysterious
land of Tibet, and I thought that surely we should now be
allowed to reach Lassa, seeing that we had safely weathered
the attack of the robbers and the dangers of the Saju-
sangpo. It was almost like a fairy-tale, in which the hero
has to go through fire and water to deliver his bride
from the power of the dragon—in this case, the fair city of
Lassa ! But we were all horribly tired ; I almost wished
we might be seized, if only to get a real sound good sleep.
Both my companions were splendid fellows ; namby-
pamby folk are no use in such adventures.
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