Washing-day—A long march—Kiang and antelope—Benighted—The purchase of a goat—Ramifications of the Brahmaputra—A détour—Through a swamp—Mansing again lost and found.
THE next was for us a great washing-day. The water of the stream was so
pleasant and clear that we could not resist the temptation of having a
regular cleaning up, washing first our clothing and spreading it to dry
in the sun, and then cleansing our faces and bodies thoroughly with soap, a luxury unknown to us for ever so long.
While I was drying myself in the sun—owing to the want of towels—I
registered at 211° (b.m.) a very high snowy peak, and a lower one at 213°
30' forming part of the chain before us. There were mountains on every
side of the plain we were traversing; and another very elevated peak, of
which I had taken bearings on a previous occasion, was at 20° (b.m.). A
break occurred in the hill range to our North-east, showing a narrow
valley, beyond which were high snowy mountains. We made a very long march
along the grassy plain, going to 147° (b.m.), and encamped on the bank of
the Brahmaputra, here already a wide, deep and very rapid stream. We had
passed hundreds of kiang and antelopes, and shortly before sunset I
took a walk to the hills to try and bring some fresh meat to camp. I
stalked a herd of antelopes, and having gone some five miles from camp, I
was benighted, and on my return had the greatest difficulty in finding my
men in the darkness. They had been unable to light a fire, and as they
had both gone fast asleep, I received no answer to my calls. We had
selected a sheltered depression in the ground for our camp, and there
being hundreds of similar spots everywhere round it, and no landmarks to
go by, it was by no means easy to identify the exact place.
Fortunately, at last, after I had shouted for some considerable time, Chanden Sing heard me, and, by the sound of his voice, I found my way back. In the morning we noticed a large encampment about a mile off on the opposite bank of the Brahmaputra, where we might have obtained provisions, but the stream was too rapid for us to cross; moreover, we saw black tents in every direction on our side of the water, and therefore there was no reason to go to the extra trouble and danger of crossing the stream.
Much to our delight, we succeeded in purchasing a goat from some passing
Tibetans, who drove before them a flock of several thousand heads, and, as we could not find sufficient dry fuel to make a fire, we entrusted Mansing with the safe-conduct of the animal to our next camp, where we proposed to feast on it.
The Brahmaputra had here several ramifications mostly ending in lakelets, and rendering the plain a regular swamp. The larger branch was very wide and deep, and we preferred following it to crossing it, notwithstanding that we had to deviate somewhat from the course which I would have otherwise followed. We thus made a considerable détour, but even as it was, for several miles we sank in mud up to our knees, or waded through water, for although there were small patches of earth with tufts of grass which rose above the water, they collapsed on our attempting to stand upon them.
The whole of the Northern part of the plain was extremely marshy. Our
yaks gave us no end of trouble, for when they sank unexpectedly in soft
mud-holes, they became restless and alarmed, and in their struggles to
save themselves, once or twice shook off their pack-saddles and loads, which we had not been able to fasten properly for want of ropes. Chanden Sing and I, however, managed to keep up with them, and at last, on nearing the hills, the ground showed greater undulations and was rather drier. We saw columns of smoke rising from near the foot of the range to the North of us. We went on another couple of miles, exhausted and dirty, our clothes, which we had spent so much soap and time in washing, filthy with splashes of mud.
"Where are Mansing and the rabbu?" I asked of my bearer.
"He remained behind at the beginning of the swamp. He was too exhausted
to drag along the goat you purchased."