h a v ild a r set out w ith me to lan te rn me through the
d y in g d a y to Gangtok. T h is was the sorest disappointment
so fa r as roads went, for w h a t had, when I went
o v e r i t first, been a well-metalled good bridle p a th
developing near Gan g to k into a real ca r t road, had turned
under th e downpour into a nu b b ly sequence of proje
c tin g stones, ankle deep in white slush. I t was, of
course, raining b y this time, b u t th a t was not of v e ry
grea t account. In an y case one would not h a v e been
able to do more th an about tw o and a qua rter miles an
hour. A s a m a tte r of fa c t, i t to o k me four and a half
hours to cover the nine and three-quarter miles th a t
la y before me, and lon g afte r dark I a rrived a t the
bunga low where dinner was awa iting me. Then I
climb ed up to th e Res idency, where I spent the night.
Th e n e x t d a y I continued t h e , descent, dropping
down through th e sizzing grindstones of th e cicadae
into th e lower v a lle y s of the T is ta and the Rang-po,
burdened e v e ry additiona l mile with a heavier blank et
o f air. When I reached Rang-po, the oppression was
almost enough to make me faint. My h ea rt was going
lik e a sledge-hammer, m y lungs seemed to h a v e no grip
u p on th e air, and I was n e ar ly deaf. These were all
th e results of coming down too fa s t from a seven
months’ residence a t an a ltitu d e of thirteen thousand
feet. In tw en ty -fo ur hours I descended from 14,500
to 600 feet. Going up was nothing in comparison,
and, th ou gh the movements of the returning force were
fa r more leisurely, I fan c y th e descent tried the hearts of
some of th e men fa r more th an th e climb. F rom Rang-po
I s till went on down th e riv er to the T is ta B r idge,
where Mr. L is te r ’ s rela y s were w a itin g for me, and I
climb ed up again, to m y intense relief, nearly five
thousand feet to the welcome shelter of his bungalow
among the tea-fields, through the great cactus hedges,
skeined w ith the gossamer of “ M ary ’s h a ir .” N e x t
d a y I went on early, and reached Ghoom Sta tion, the
end of m y long ride, a t a qua rter to nine, h a v in g come
from L hasa in eleven day s and three hours. T h a t same
d a y I went on to Ca lcutta, and fo r ty -e igh t hours late r
s till I found m yse lf in Vicerega l Lodge a t Simla, where
I s ta y e d three or four days before continuing m y jou rn ey
home.
I h a v e finished the s to ry , and I la y down m y pen
w ith regret not unmingled with unce rta in ty. I f this
record shall have p rov ed uninteresting, the blame is in
v e r y tru th to be la id a t m y door. For assuredly no
man ever had a b e tte r chance in the h is to ry of tra v e l
than I have had, and have been helped to make the best
use of w ith the ungrudged assistance of all concerned.
Still there has been more to con v ey than mere facts,
and here I am in no position to judge. I f it shall seem
to some reader th a t I h a v e brought into the course of
the na r ra tive even a flash from th a t aurora of fascination
which haloed e v e ry step we too k in this strange country ,
which danced will-o’-the-wisp-like along our road before
us, which a t the end sa t lik e St. E lm o ’s fire within the
shrine o f the great golden idol in the heart o f L h a s a -
then I shall ha ve done as much as now seems possible
to me as I make an end o f writing, and turn b a ck the
pages of these tw o volumes.
T h e wide field which the exploration— I had almost
said m this case the discovery-—o f a new co u n try alw ays
offers, I ha ve, after m y ab ility , tried to cover,; b u t there
must needs be matters which I h a v e either unwisely
v o l . 11. 22*