comforters, puttie gaiters and heavy shooting-boots
completed our outfit for use by day.
For the night we had poshteen sleeping-bags, and a
plentiful supply of rugs in addition ; but at times even
these proved to be insufficient to keep out the bitter
cold, and poshteen trousers had often to be worn at
night as well as by day.
The tents consisted of an Elgin Mills 8 ft. square
sleeping pal, an 8 ft. square servants’ pal, a Col.
Kinlock’s shooting pal and four 6 ft. square servants’
pals. As soon as our means of transport began to fail,
both the servants’ tent and the shooting tent were
discarded, as neither was suited to the country.
These tents were very much improved by some
additions which we devised for them. They were
lined throughout with close-woven canvas cloth, and a
flap of the same material, twelve inches deep, was also
sewn round the bottom of the “ flies” and turned in so
as to lie on the ground. On this strip a rug was laid,
fixed to the walls by means of tabs, thus materially
assisting in protecting us from the bitter wind.
A great variety of medicines was not needed, as
the ailments likely to be met with in high altitudes
are but few in number : cold in the abdomen, inflammation
of the eyes, sleeplessness, headache and moun-
tain-sickness, ague and toothache, comprise the chief
complaints. A small tin chest contained the necessary
drugs in the form of tabloids, together with lanoline,
lint and bandages, for minor accidents. These proved
amply sufficient for all our wants.
CHAPTER I I I
READY TO START
A b d u l K h a l ik , the caravan-bashi, met me several
miles from Leh, bringing with him two or three of the
ponies he had bought. These animals were enveloped
in rugs, but no coverings could sufficiently disguise the
lumbering Yarkandi pony, the one breed above all
others which Khalik had been told not to purchase.
Soon after reaching the comfortable dak bungalow at
Leh, a visit was paid to the serai to inspect the forty-
three animals which had been bought.
Khalik, heavily booted and spurred, gaily attired,
and carrying an enormous whip, joined us, and at once
proceeded to introduce the men he had engaged as
caravan-drivers. They were twelve in number, all
Argoons, of varying age, size, and appearance. A
very few had pleasant faces; the majority looked
hardened villains. The services of six were dispensed
with at once, much to Khalik’s disgust.
Argoons are half-castes, usually the offspring of
mixed Yarkandi and Ladaki, or Yarkandi and Kashmiri
marriages; they get their living as caravan-drivers,
working along the different trade routes. As a rule,
they are ill-fed and badly paid, looked down upon and
bullied by the surrounding peoples, so that it is
remarkable they retain any good qualities at all ;
as a matter of fact, they are not only patient, hardworking,
and apparently indifferent to physical hard