国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

become more and more alarmed at the increasing bareness and cold of the country we
were travelling through, and were now on the point of giving up all hope of ever seeing
human habitations again. Pindi Lal had from time to time raised their spirits by pro-
phesying that, in about ten days, we should reach a great town, Leh, where there would
be abundance of delicacies, such as sugar, dal, rice, and butter, the existence of which
we had almost forgotten. In one of the last villages of Spiti, we unfortunately met
a traveller from Ladakh who knew Urdu. They asked him how many days it would
take us to reach Leh, and when this man said that it could not be done under twenty
days, they gave up all hope of ever reaching it. The only topic of conversation
among them, now, was the malign conjunction of planets (as they thought), under which
their birth had taken place. However, we reached the top of the pass after all, and had
a grand view over a large glacier directly below us, over many more glaciers hanging
down from black rugged peaks, and a labyrinth of icy mountain ranges. And the
thought came to them that they had to travel over these wild mountains with nothing
but a little coarse flour in their provision bags. When then the yaks absolutely refused
to jump across cracks in the glacier, and we had to cross deep fissures in the ice by
sliding down one side and climbing up the other, when the mountain sickness in its most
acute form assailed the poor Khalasi, he lay down on a boulder on the edge of the glacier
and gave himself up to die. I had not kept my eye on him, and thus we had descended
a good way, before Pindi Lal drew my attantion to him, saying : "One man is missing."
It was very unpleasant in this pathless country to return over the same boulders, but I
had to send Pindi Lal back again to fetch the Khalasi. He brought him to our camp
at the only level spot in the vicinity, called Drathang, 17,000 feet high. His face
had become sallow, and his eyes had lost their lustre. The night was sure to be cold and
his insufficient clothing as well as the small tent could not afford him sufficient warmth
and shelter. I, therefore, cut one of my blankets in two, and gave him one half, and
Pindi Lal gave him some of his clothing. Soon after, he came to my tent with the
blanket in his hand. He could not believe that a blanket of scarlet colour should be
his property. But when he was assured of the fact, there was a ray of light in his eye
again. I am convinced that the expectation of one time or other showing this treasure
to his relations, was one of the most powerful factors in raising his spirits, and ultimately
restoring him to health.
On the next morning, he was mounted on a yak and expected to ride the
whole way. That was, however, easier said than done. For the most part, no road
of any kind could be distinguished, and we had to make our passage along the
steep bank of a deep and broad river. Whenever the progress on dry ground was
absolutely impossible, the yaks jumped into the water to wade or swim in it, which
latter performance made me feel rather uneasy with regard to the photographic plates
in the boxes on their backs. Pindi Lal, who was riding on one of the two horses of
our caravan, had a narrow escape, when the ground under his horse suddenly gave
way, and the horse, performing a somersault, fell into the river, the rider holding on to
the bank. Whilst we were thus ploughing on slowly, I noticed that the Khansaman
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