for a large sheet of paper, and some charcoal, and wanted to form his
mountains of sand; I however ordered rice to be brought, and though
we had but little, scattered it about wastefully. This had its
effect: he stared at my wealth, for he had all along calculated on
starving me out, and retired, looking perplexed and crestfallen.
Nothing puzzled him so much as my being always occupied with such, to
him, unintelligible pursuits; a Tibetan "cui bono?" was always in his
mouth: "What good will it do _you_?" "Why should you spend weeks on
the coldest, hungriest, windiest, loftiest place on the earth,
without even inhabitants?" Drugs and idle curiosity he believed were
my motives, and possibly a reverence for the religion of Boodh,
Sakya, and Tsongkaba. Latterly he had made up his mind to starve me
out, and was dismayed when he found I could hold out better than
himself, and when I assured him that I should not retrace my steps
until his statements should be verified by a letter from Tchebu; that
I had written to him, and that it would be at least thirty days
before I could receive an answer.

On the 19th of July he proposed to take me to Tungu, at the foot of
Kinchinjhow, and back, upon ponies, provided I would leave my people
and tent, which I refused to do. After this I saw little of him for
several days, and began to fear he was offended, when one morning his
attendant came to me for medicine with a dismal countenance, and in
great alarm: he twisted his fingers together over his stomach to
symbolise the nature of the malady which produced a commotion in his
master's bowels, and which was simply the colic. I was aware that he
had been reduced to feed upon "Tong" (the arum-root) and herbs, and
had always given him half the pigeons I shot, which was almost the
only animal food I had myself. Now I sent him a powerful dose of
medicine; adding a few spoonfuls of China tea and sugar