Diary of a Journey Across Tibet Kindle Edition

Excerpt:On the 14th June we marched out of Leh. The party consisted, besides myself, of Dr. Thorold, Indian Medical Service, who, in addition to the professional services he rendered, added considerably to the value of the expedition by making a collection of botanical specimens; a native sub - surveyor; my Pathan orderly; a Hindustani cook; a Kashmiri, subsequently sent back; and six Argoon caravan drivers. Argoons are a class of half-castes, mostly the result of the nikkha1 marriages made by Turki merchants with Tibetan women. Having no land, they eke out a subsistence by doing caravan work on the Yarkand road; they are hardy and patient, and I don't think deserve the bad character that some writers give them. I am glad to see that Captain Eamsay in his Dictionary of Western Tibet speaks up for them. Though arrant cowards as regards fighting, no one can honestly say they are cowards amidst the great physical difficulties encountered in these regions, and the way they work in the only line open to them is certainly in their favour. Personally, I should class them considerably higher than the pure bred Ladakhi, their manner of life tending to make them more self-reliant.The annual fair at Hemis Monastery was going on, so we paid a flying visit to it en route. The whole place was in gala costume, and as we approached, the band, consisting of six or seven men seated on the ground, some playing reed instruments resembling the chanter of a bagpipe and some beating tom-toms, struck up in our honour. The monastery is situated in a narrow valley in which there is a little arable land cultivated by the peasantry, half the produce of which is given to the monks. The game animals and birds in the valley are very tame, as they are never shot: some shapoo (Ovis vignei) were grazing close by, and a chukar (Caccabis chukar, a bird resembling a red-legged partridge) sat looking at us from about five yards off. We were given comfortable quarters in the monastery, which is very rich, having escaped plunder in 1834 by supplying provisions to Zorawar Singh's invading army. Next day we saw a masked dance by the monks; the place was crowded, and amongst the spectators were some unprepossessing-looking nuns with shaven heads and yellow caps, it evidently not beins; the fashion to doom the best-looking ones to a convent life. Read more