70 feet square and 15 feet high, it is situated at
the foot of a rock, surrounded by a few huts and a
small area of cultivated ground. The dzongpon’s
district stretches to Shipki, from which place so many
British officers have been turned back, though the
present man may not be the one responsible for such
actions.
CHAPTER XV
ACROSS THE FRONTIER
Thakur Jai Chand, before leaving on the following
morning, thoroughly prepared us for the disagreeable
journey which was to be our portion that day, but with
the exception of the driving snow which beat full in
our faces, there was nothing particularly trying until we
were within three-quarters of a mile from camp. This,
of course, was at the bottom of a nullah, but what a
place | The track literally dropped over the precipice,
twisting in sharp zigzags down the face of the cliff
wherever a projecting point offered sufficient room for
a turn. Now and again, an old fault or a landslip
afforded an opportunity to the ponies of halting for the
readjustment of their loads, but it was labour wasted,
as a few feet farther on matters were as bad as ever.
Down and ever down went the path, until, 3000 feet below
the crest, the bed of the ravine was reached. Here
nothing existed but the absolute minimum requisites
for a camp—a patch of ground for the tents about 40
yards square, a few straggling blades of grass for the
animals, an icy crystal stream, and a little scrub for
fuel. Gaunt, barren cliffs towering all around, a stream
rushing through a narrow rift, the sides of which,
apparently closing in a few hundred yards above and
below, gave the river the appearance of arising from and
disappearing into the bowels of the earth ; whilst above
was seen a mere streak of scudding storm-clouds. Except
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