200 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
weapons, had seized him and brought him outside, where a large crowd of villagers had collected. Early the next morning I sent Dalbir Rai, under the charge of Raju and an escort provided by the Yuz Bashi, to Kiria. To the Chow-Kuan of Kiria I sent a polite letter informing him of Dalbir Rai's misdeeds, and requesting that he might be sent under escort to Yarkand, there to await Macartney's orders. In my passport all officials are directed to afford me due " protection," and this protection I asked for in view of Dalbir's Rai's threats to kill me.
When this matter was disposed of I went to the plateau, hoping to find antelope, but for two days snow fell continuously, and I had to take shelter in a small cave hollowed out of the loess by shepherds. These caves are difficult to enter, and are so small that they scarcely permit one to move without touching the walls and bringing down showers of loess. When the snow ceased falling, and the haze cleared away, I searched for game but found none, and was glad to return to the comfortable resting-place at Polu.
In these journeys the baggage animals displayed very various powers of endurance. The sheep and donkeys lost far less flesh than did the ponies. The big Yarkand ponies became very thin, and proved quite unsuitable for Tibet. The small ponies purchased in Kashmir and at Gilgit and Yarkand kept in better condition. One of these was of a quarrelsome disposition, and, though generally victorious in his encounters, received on one occasion such a bruising as to require a great deal of attention from me. His nose was badly kicked and the bone broken, one leg was cut, and on another a large abscess was produced. Having on hand also the care of the ponies which had fallen down the mountains-slope near the At To Pass, I found my veterinary practice more extensive than was desirable. My orders that the ponies and donkeys should
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