of him. He would rise suddenly before the astonished
Sikh, discharge his piece wildly into the air, and bolt.
It need not be said that the fight was a short one. In
this broken ground, underneath precipitous mountainsides,
where the rocks lay as they had fallen for a
thousand years, it was difficult to trace the dun figures
as they dodged and hid all over the colourless mountain
side. Scores of them still remained with their
muskets loaded and their quick-matches alight, ready
for one desperate attempt before death. Until they
had ridden through the gorge itself, the mounted men
were almost useless, but the 32nd had all their work cut
out for them in clearing yard by yard the broken and
precipitous ground which hems in the river on both
sides. One or two of them were wounded, but considering
the point-blank range at which they were
compelled to receive a large part of the enemy’s fire, it
is astounding that so few were hit. From above, on
both sides, the roar of jingals was continually heard,
and every now and again a wildly-aimed ball splashed
into, the stream beside the rock.
The river takes another turn a mile afterwards, and
resumes at an angle of 300 degrees its downward
northerly course. Here a small tributary pours itself
into it from the west, and a stretch of flat ground in
both the greater and the lesser valleys allowed the
mounted infantry to make use of their superior pace.
The Gurkhas by this time were diligently clearing the
heights above, round which the zigzag river takes its
course. There was nothing more to do except to complete
the pursuit, and after a halt, which was to some of
us saddened by the sight of a few wounded Tibetans
pitifully tended by their half-distraught wives at two
Red Idol Gorge.
IT IS A LITTLE DIFFICULT TO M A K E OUT THE IDOL ITSELF,
BUT THE STREAMERS OF PRAYER-FLAGS TO RIGHT A N D
LEFT WILL LEAD THE EYE TO THE RO U G H SEMBLANCE OF
A SEATED FIGURE B Y THE SIDE OF THE TRACK ALONG
WH IC H THE MAXIM IS BEING TAKEN. RufoUS Ochres, the
idol weather-stained crimson, stream clear.