Evening star., 1925-08-02

bodies so that they are able to bear
the lowest temperatures without en-
dangering their health, and to dry
on them any piece of cloth just as
If 1t were placed on a heated stove.
For long 1 had remained incredulous
about the stories 1 had heard on that
matter, but, having become really
interested in the subject, / had sue
ceeded after a long time of rather
hard probation in convincing gompt
chen literally a great mediator" an
ascetic who lives in solitude) to initi
ate me into that secret. So, although
owing to lack of perseverance and
practice, / was far from being an
accomplished adept of that art, pre-
vious tests made me confident that
had nothing to fear from the pres
ent accident.
Very happily, we found not far
from the river a grotto which was
used as habitation by the cow-aen
during the Summer. A large guam
tity of dry cow dung remained on the
ground. We kindled big fire. l took
off my sheepskfn coat and gave 1t
to the care of Thobgyal to dry as best
he could. Then, leaving him alone
so that he might undress, warm him.
self and dry his own clothes, / went
out in my wet undergarment and sat
in the open to practice the lessons
that already long ago had been
taught to me, at the foot of the ever
lasting SHOWS, on the occult power of
generating internal heat.
Two hours later I went back to the
cave. Busy around a glowing braZier,
Thobgyal, who had dried himself,
cooked for my dinner kind of soup
whose recipe 1 omit to give here.
doubling that any of my readers dogs
would care to taste it, but for us it
was a relish.
OWING to tiredness, we had not
~ been able to travel as quickly as
had expected; our supply Of foed was
nearly exhausted and of the little that
remained a part had been spoiled
when we took an unwanted bath in
the Mekong. We did not see any
prospect of buying or begging any
thing in the solitudes we We're cross
ing, so that we were most anxious to
see Yongden arriving with the lug
gage and provisions.
Thobygal was specially haunted by
| the remembrance of bag of dry meat.
He spoke about it a hundred times a
| day, and prompted by the desire that
the lama, who carried the coveted dry
meat with him, would soon overtaRe
| us, he slackened the pace, proceeding
as a snail. sitting after every mile for
a long time, as If exhausted. I under
| stood his ruse, but. aside from ad
| monitions. that had little effect OF
him, had no way of infusing energy
| in him. He was a good, timid young
man, a member of the lower lamaist
| clergy, brought up in monastery.
Our lonely marches across snowy
! wildnerness. where silence was only
| broken at times by the roaring of the
| avalanches or of a torrent running in
visible under a thick layer of ice. had
! troubled his mind; fear led him to
| strange acts. he began to speak aloud
| in an incoherent way. His mental
condition greatly added to my preoc
| cupation.
| The calculations of the poor greedy
! fellow had perforce to turn out true
| One evening we were ready to camp
| when we saw. far away, Yongden anG
his servant coming down from the
/ crest of a hill. Doubt was not pos
sible; we counted the number of ami
mails, recognized the size of the men
! Yongden short and Dawa tall. OuI
| friends We're there.
Overcome by Joy, thinking Of the
dry meat and other good food, Thoby
! gal proposed to go to meet ouI
| friends and to lead them behind the
| little hillock where we had decided tC
camp. 1t was nearly dark; signaling
| from far was impossible, so / let him
go. Half an hour later 1 saw hin
coming back, carrying dry cowdune
in the flap of his coat. He looked ter
rif1ed.
There are spies or enemies after
them or after us, L do not know" he
said, hurriedly, in a subdued tone
| "Dawa wears his rosary around his
| neck When I saw 1t I threw myself
! on the ground behind the corner of q
| hill. They were busy looking at a
load whose ropes had become loose
and they did not notice me-"
The news was serious. / spent the
/, night pondering about the matter, and
| we started only when the sun haG
seen, the appearance Of being ac
| quainted with the other party.
We had settled that Yongden and
| would meet beyond the frontier al
place northward of the upper course
of the Salwen River; he was certainly
! far from thinking that we were still
lingering in Chinese Tibet, and would
1 continue to proceed. 1t would not be
| easy to join riders who had severa
hours advance on us. Still. as they
were compelled to ride slowly on ac
count of the pack animals and to camI
in the day to let the beasts Craze, we
expected to meet them before long.
|
| A FTER a long march we saw, a
night, fire burning in shelter
ed spot. Travellers are few in these
regions, especially during the cold sea
son, and we at once supposed that oul
friends were there. Coming nearer
| Iot l.. \
| take. Like hungry wolves that covet
we'll guarded prey, we advanced eau
| tiously toward the camp. I did not
see Lama Yongden, who was in the
tent. but. near the fire. Dawa was
cooking the meal, chanting some pious
invocation to Dolma. The flame light
ed him up, and. to our horror, we saw
the long rosary hung to his neck
depressing our exclamation of bite,
disappointment, we retreated in the
| dark.
This time" / told my servant, Eve
| Will continue ahead and camp neal
their road, If we can find a suitable
place. where we will be hidden, an6
! where they will pass by. Tomorrow
L shall try to get an explanation"
overcome by fatigue we slept to,
late that morning; when we awoks
and looked at the road the caravan
had already gone. We could fatntl,
distinguish on the top of a hill tn,
line formed by the mules to cross t,
the other side.
Sorrowfully we ate the last piec,
J or butter that remained from tn,
7 wreck Of our loads in the Mekong
Nothing was left in our bags besid,
a small quantity of tea. We started
In haste. 1t was most urgent to fine
a way to get food.
Yongden, for some reason that W,
could not guess, had that day haltet
early, near stream. and we saw hi.
tent in the middle Of the afternoon
I'VE will wait until after sunset" sais