58 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
left me quite free to pursue my astronomical work. About daybreak I took observations of the principal peaks, and had my theodolite packed up again before our neighbours emerged from their abodes. During the morning a servant of the Pombo came to make inquiries, but we refused him an interview, telling him that if his master wished for information he ought to come in person. Through our caravan men we ascertained that there was
in Gerge, a Kulu trader on his annual visit for the purchase of wool and gold, and that he had a pony which he was willing to sell. We were seriously in want of transport, having lost by death or robbery forty animals, while of the twenty-six remaining half had sore backs. The pony offered to us was not young, and the price asked was exorbitant, but we concluded the bargain, paying 50 rupees down and giving a cheque on a bank at
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