the evil spirits of this pretty little imitation of the
Merjelensee.
On the following morning, the 7th of May, the
column began the return march, and Captain O’Connor
and I set off in good time to cover before nightfall the
forty-four miles which lay between us and Gyantse. CHAPTER IX.
THE NIGHT ATTACK ON THE MISSION.
W h a t exactly we should find when we reached
Gyantse neither O’Connor nor myself had the least idea.
We knew that the first attack had been gallantly
and satisfactorily beaten o ff; but we also knew that
only half the Tibetan force had been employed on the
5th Iknew too that the attacking party had bungled
things in some way or other. We did not know the size
of the guns which the Tibetans had mounted on the
jong, we did not know how far the post had been surrounded,
and to tell the truth we rather trusted to luck
and to the shades of night to get back into the post at
all. Rumour reached us when we got to Ra-lung that
the Tibetans had determined to hold the gorges through
which our little party, consisting of Captain Ottley
with ten of his mounted infantry and our two selves,
had to pass. If this were found to be the case we could
hardly hope to force a way through ; but we knew that
the earlier we pushed on the better hope there was of
being able to make our way to the open plain of Gyantse,
which it was impossible for the Tibetans to barricade,
and in which we might then be able to hold our own
against any number the Tibetans were likely to send
out from the jong to cut us off. It was an uneventful
ride of fifteen miles from Ra-lung to Gobshi, and we
covered it in a little over three hours. We halted at