MANAGEMENT OF THE TIBETAN CARAVAN—TEA WITH THE MERCHANT—SHUGATZA RIVER—FRICTION—AN ALARM.

The general management and internal economy of this wonderful caravan was sufficiently full of interest to merit a small space being devoted to its description. The head of the caravan was a very fine-looking Tibetan from Lhassa; he must have stood well over six feet and was exceedingly well-built, decidedly the biggest Tibetan I have ever seen. In the camp he was always known as the "Kushok," and all attempts to find out his real name resulted in failure; I very much doubt if more than one or two members of the caravan knew it, and they dared not disclose it. The title "Kushok" was originally applied only to living Buddhas, but latterly it has become merely a term of respect or affection, and no longer has any religious significance.

Next in importance to the Kushok came another big merchant, who lived and slept in the same tent with him; besides these two there were numerous small merchants, some of whom owned, perhaps, as few as half a dozen yak; and, lastly, a lama or priest. Altogether they made up an imposing caravan of close on 1,500 yak, as near as we could calculate. We were told that one herdsman was employed to look after every sixty yak, but I cannot help thinking that, in reality, there were rather more; every man in the party, merchants, herdsmen, as well as the cooks and servants, was mounted, so that, when on the march, they presented a striking contrast to our sadly reduced little party.

Their daily routine was somewhat as follows. About 4 a.m. the inferior of the two big merchants would wake up and call to the head cook that it was time to get up, the latter would then give a loud shout, which sounded like "Chou-chou, chou-chou, chou-chou-ou-ou!" and which was promptly echoed by men on guard all through the camp. In a few moments every one was astir, tents were being struck and yak being loaded; in an incredibly short space of time this work was completed and the ponies were being saddled, and in rather under an hour from the word to get up being given the vast caravan was on the move.

The 1,500 yak were divided into seven distinct companies and moved in column, each company superintended by the merchants to whom the animals belonged, and kept in order by the servants and herdsmen under them. These seven companies were again divided into two wings, one consisting of four, the other of the remaining three companies. Every day they marched in the same order, generally with a considerable distance between the two wings, one moving off some time before the other, but everything was managed without the slightest noise or confusion. From the time the watchmen aroused the sleeping camp till the moment of marching off scarcely a voice was heard; it might then be necessary for some one of the mounted men to scream at a refractory yak to make him fall into his proper place; but so little, even of this, was there that, after the first day or two, we slept peacefully on while our Tibetan friends passed close by our tent. I am sorry to say that we were never able to witness their arrival in camp, but we saw enough to convince us that everything must have been conducted in the same systematic manner as the morning start.

On arrival in a fresh camp each company drove in its picketing pegs with ropes attached, so as to form a good large rectangle; in the centre of this the baggage belonging to the company was carefully piled. Every load was lifted off the yak, and left ready tied up, so that it had merely to be placed on the brute's back in the morning, for as each load was accurately balanced no further tying was necessary. Over the pile of baggage an awning was pitched, and the servants made themselves snug little shelters in the middle, where they spread their bedding. The saddles were removed from the yak, and placed near the baggage, and then the animals were sent out to graze, a certain proportion of the attendants being told off to look after them. Then, and not till then, food was prepared for the first time during the day, for to save time in the cool of the morning, when only yak can travel with any comfort, the start was always made on empty stomachs; but now the cooks had got their fires going, work was over, and the cravings of hunger could be attended to.

We had no opportunity for seeing what arrangements the lesser merchants made for rationing their own men, but they were, I imagine, the same as those made by the Kushok. His plan was as follows:—Each man was provided with a leathern bag, which held about forty pounds of tsamba, that is, twenty days' rations. On ration days this was filled up for him by the cook, and he was at liberty to eat as much or as little as he pleased. He also had butter in proportion, but whatever he chose to do with his food no more was issued till next ration day. The cook brewed tea for all the employÉs in a huge cauldron, and when ready he gave a peculiar cry, upon which every man came round the fire, bringing his own tsamba, butter, and perhaps a little cheese (chura), sugar, or other delicacy provided out of his own pocket. Bowls were then produced from the ample folds of the sheepskin gowns, filled up with tea by the cook, and the meal began. When satisfied, bowls were licked perfectly clean and replaced in the gowns, and pipes produced. This took place twice a day, usually about midday and again about half-past four in the afternoon. About dusk the yak and ponies were brought in from grazing, and this, too, was a sight well worth seeing. I was enabled one day to get a photograph with the kodak, but my space does not allow me to reproduce it here. Most interesting it was to watch how cleverly a very small number of men could control a vast herd of semi-wild animals. All the herdsmen were armed with long slings, with which they slung stones or clods of earth at any stragglers, and the accuracy and strength of the practice they made, up to about seventy yards, was astonishing. Once in camp, a very few minutes sufficed for saddles to be adjusted, and for every yak to be picketed in his proper place ready for a start in the early morning. If by any chance an animal was missing, his absence was promptly discovered and reported to the Kushok ; but, while we were with them, the absentees were always brought in before nightfall.

If there was one thing more than another which aroused our wonder in connection with this caravan, it was the extraordinary knowledge the Kushok had of every little thing that went on within it. Outwardly he appeared to take scarcely any interest in anything. He rarely came outside his tent, and seemed to spend most of his time in drinking tea and praying. Nevertheless, nothing occurred without his knowledge, and he certainly had managed to inspire the lesser merchants and underlings with the greatest awe of, and respect for, himself. No doubt he was kept carefully posted in all camp details by his private servant, a regular little prying busybody; but, even allowing for that, the way he kept his subordinates in order, without appearing to know or care what went on, was very remarkable.

Another thing that surprised us considerably was the civility of everybody in the caravan. Few, if any, of them had seen a European before, but we were strangely exempt from any offensive curiosity. Later on, in China, we often wished that we could move about with the same freedom as we had done in the Kushok's camp, and I am sure that many a foreigner in England has experienced far greater annoyance from the inquisitiveness of our fellow-countrymen than did we among these rough Tibetans. Equally strange was their respect for our property. While we had been in the wilds we had got into the way of leaving a lot of baggage outside the tent, the space inside being very limited, and to our delight we found that we could still do so with perfect safety; for, although the whole cortÈge passed our tent every morning, our cartridges, ropes, saddles, tent pegs, etc., were every bit as safe lying outside as if they had been inside with us. Enough has been said of this particular caravan and of its management to show that years of experience have resulted in an almost perfect system, but a few words about these caravans in general may not be out of place here.

To begin with, on the Lhassa-Sining route there is no regularly defined road, but every year the caravans renew various old landmarks, and set up new ones on prominent features, especially in the vicinity of the camping grounds. It may sometimes occur that there is no one in a caravan who has done the journey for two or three years, and if these landmarks were not carefully kept up, great difficulty might be experienced in finding sufficient grass and water for the animals, on whom so much depends. As it is, they frequently have to make long marches from one camp to another, there being no grass between the two. The greatest distance they did while we were with them was eighteen miles, but they told us they often did twenty-five, and even more, miles in a day. One caravan only leaves from each end every year.[2] They usually start in May or the beginning of June, and arrive at their destination, whether it be Lhassa or China, in October, thus getting the warmest time of year to travel, when grass is fairly plentiful, the ice is melted, and water easily obtainable.[3] The loads are very light, rarely being over 120 pounds, and the marches are regulated entirely by the supply of grass and water. They make the yak travel a great pace, close on three and half miles an hour, so as to get in before the sun is very hot, as they say that travelling fast takes less out of them than travelling in the heat.

A caravan going from Lhassa into China brings the famous pulo cloth, and great quantities of dried dates (kasur). These come into Lhassa from Calcutta, so that by the time they reach China they are naturally very expensive, running, as they do, about fifteen for a rupee, in Chinese coinage thirty cash a-piece, or a penny each in English money. When with the caravan we bought a hundred of these dates for two rupees, and thought we had paid a most exorbitant price, but on arriving in China we learnt that we had really got them very cheap.

Caravans from China into Lhassa are mostly employed carrying tea, the main staple of food in Tibet, and a certain amount of tobacco. The reason why only one caravan goes each way in a year is, that all the merchants are very much afraid of encountering robbers on the road. They therefore prefer to wait for one another, and travel in one large body, to running the risk of being looted en route. Very often these large caravans are employed trading for the TalÉ Lama, or other high officials in Lhassa, but whether this is invariably the case, or whether it was so on this occasion, I am unable to say. In matters of business, as well as of geography, the Kushok and his servants were very reticent after the first day or two.

At Tankar, the frontier town of Kansu, there are four Tibetan officials appointed by the TalÉ Lama to look after the interests of Tibetan merchants, and to arrange any difficulties that may arise between them and the Chinese, in addition to which duty one of the four has to accompany the tribute to Pekin each year. They thus have plenty to do, as there are many Tibetans on the Chinese frontier and a big merchant, such as our acquaintance was, might stay three years or more trading in China before returning to Lhassa. During that time he is bound to come in contact with numerous officials, some of whom would undoubtedly pick quarrels with and extract undue squeezes from him, if he had no official to whom he could appeal.

On the 11th of September we found the merchants had made such a long march, that it would be wise for ourselves to make two. The day was bitterly cold, for it was the coldest march we had experienced, and during our first halt we felt the weather so severely that Malcolm and I walked on ahead, leaving the men to bring on the three mules and the pony, for the men now were quite happy and living on the fat of the land. As soon as we had reached the merchant's camp, we took shelter under one of the awnings, and beckoned to Nimbri to tell him we wanted to take tea with the merchant. Nimbri gave us to understand that if we wanted to have tea with the merchant, we must pay one rupee for the pleasure. Having produced this sum, we were soon inside the Kushok's cosy tent, warming our toes and fingers by the glowing fire as we sipped our hot tea. Our conversation without Esau was very limited; besides, as the two merchants were anxious to pray, we soon took the hint and departed.

During the days spent with the merchant, we used to pay one of his servants to supply us daily with argols for our fire, although, while leading a nomad's life, we had always found an inducement and pleasure to go argol hunting. A well-dried argol was well worth finding, and we experienced the same delight as a mushroom gatherer in finding an unusually large one, or a stamp collector in discovering a rare issue.

While pursuing the caravan the next day, we noticed some yak grazing in a nullah, and only a couple of miles or so from the new camp, and I thought that if I could shoot one of these, we might induce the merchants to carry the trophy for us into China. These yak were so placed that I had no alternative left me but to walk openly up the valley they were grazing in. They took no notice of me till within 150 yards, when they began to move off, but a single shot from my carbine knocked over the largest one stone dead. I was somewhat surprised, for I considered my shot had been directed too far back. On cutting up the brute, I found I had destroyed his liver, which had been the cause of his death.

On arrival into camp, I found one of the Kushok's ponies, on which he placed a high price, was dying. In order to save the animal's life, he had bought a spoonful of brandy from Malcolm, for a pound of flour. In this transaction the merchant was certainly the loser.

We learnt that the Kushok intended to remain halted the next day. This was welcome news to us, for our three mules had not had an entire day's rest for over two months, and all our writing and mapping was behindhand. We wanted, too, to purchase more supplies, which operation with these people always took up a great deal of time. Above all things, we thought we should be able to take a number of pictures with our kodak, illustrative of typical scenes in the camp.

The day of rest was a glorious one of peace and sunshine. The smoke from the different fires curled straight up towards the heavens, and all seemed to be enjoying the quiet change. On the opposite side of the valley we could see all the hundreds of yak, resembling at that distance a large ants' nest. The morning was spent entirely in buying supplies. The prices had been raised, so that we tried to buy from some of the minor merchants. But the ever inquisitive Nimbri, on discovering this, informed his master, who, being all, powerful in the camp, forbade the selling of any supplies to us except by himself. He made himself unpleasant with regard to other small matters. We could see it was the Kushok's intention to bleed us, and we were so placed that we could not help ourselves, yet, during the morning, he sent us a special blend of tea. It was certainly first-rate, both a thick and sustaining drink. During the afternoon we managed to take some snap-shots before the members of the camp could grasp what our little game was, or, more correctly speaking, grew suspicious of our intentions.

We were all reinvigorated by the one day's halt, and at daybreak continued our descent, all the way down a magnificent gorge, the mountains on either side being very lofty and precipitous. Eventually the gorge became very narrow, before reaching a well-marked camping ground of short, green grass. We had come to a district abounding in scrub and thorn bush two or three feet high. Some of the sticks of these bushes were an inch in diameter, while the air was scented with the fragrant smell of herbs. To see vegetation, even of this barren description, was a pleasant sensation to us, for we had seen no kind of vegetation bigger than a wild onion, since leaving Niagzu, some four months ago.

After our breakfast we proceeded on our march, following the dry bed of a stream, which brought us to a river which we learnt was the Shugatza, or Shuga Gol. This, strange to say, was flowing in a nearly opposite direction to that in which we ourselves were going, and was soon lost to view, hidden by the hills in its north-west course. On the right bank of the river, to which we had to cross, was the Kushok's camp, with the yak wandering about in the plain, which was covered with splendid grass. On the left bank was a range of hills called the Tong Hills.

SOME MEMBERS OF THE KUSHOK'S CAMP.