weather. As some persons measure their length on the
ground for the entire distance, and others are aged or
accompanied by women, and others again linger on
the road, either for contemplation or to bathe in the icy
waters of the Gauri-Kund (though the ordinary pilgrim
merely breaks the ice and puts a little of the water
on his head), it is easy to see that the time occupied
by the journey varies very greatly. One and all condemn
the record-breaker, who hurries round in as
short a time as possible, and they apply to him the
opprobrious epithet of “ Khi-kor,” the man who runs
round like a dog.
Buddhists as well as Hindus do the pilgrimage, for the
former place Kailas, which they call Gangri and Tise,
in the same same category of holy mountains as Mount
Everest and Mount Chari in Assam, and a pilgrimage
to these three holy mountains in their opinion confers
on the devotee a virtue which cannot be excelled.
The ordinary pilgrim of means takes with him a tent and,
stopping wherever his inclination dictates, accomplishes
the journey with dignity and comfort, and a deliberation
which betokens reverence. The man of humbler
status takes refuge at the different gompas (or monasteries)
and is thankful for the charity which has erected
these places of rest. Ordinarily the first monastery
visited is the one at Nendiphu, where there is a quaint
offering to be found among the many matchlocks,
swords and shields which have been given by the
devotees of past generations, in the form of a pair of
elephant tusks. These tusks are a curiosity in this part
of the world, as elephants are very rare in Tibet. They
have been found in Lhasa, but, speaking broadly, they
are practically unknown in Tibet, and it is, therefore,
startling to find these tusks at Kailas. The next
monastery is at Dediphu, and thence the road goes via
the Gauri-Kund frozen lake to Zutulphu (or Jamdul-
phu). About this latter place there is an interesting
legend to the effect that in times gone by two lamas
Driver
SHEEP CARRYING LOADS : ONE DRIVER IS IN FRONT
met here, the one journeying round Kailas from left
to right and the other from right to left, and they
argued long as to who was in the right. Finding
argument unavailing, the one heaved an enormous
boulder at the other, who nimbly caught the missile
in his hand and supported it like the strong man at the
Aquarium, but, unlike the latter, to remove the doubts
of all unbelievers he left the imprint of his fingers on