In the forbidden land, an account of a journey into Tibet . e I must say that my servant hadshown me the road across Tibet, and that he had donethe maps and sketches. If T would say this, they werewilling to release meand have me conveyedback to the frontier,promising to do me nofurther harm. Theywould cut my servantshead off, that was all*but no personal injuryshould be inflicted onme. I explained clearly tothe Lamas that I alonewas responsible for themaps and sketches, andfor finding my way sofar inland. I repeatedseveral times,slowly anddistinctly, that my ser-vant was innocent, and that th
In the forbidden land, an account of a journey into Tibet . e I must say that my servant hadshown me the road across Tibet, and that he had donethe maps and sketches. If T would say this, they werewilling to release meand have me conveyedback to the frontier,promising to do me nofurther harm. Theywould cut my servantshead off, that was all*but no personal injuryshould be inflicted onme. I explained clearly tothe Lamas that I alonewas responsible for themaps and sketches, andfor finding my way sofar inland. I repeatedseveral times,slowly anddistinctly, that my ser-vant was innocent, and that therefore there was no rea-son to punish him. He had only obeyed my orders infollowing me to Tibet, and I alone, not my two servants,was to be punished if anybody was punishable. The Lamas were angry at this, and one of them struckme violently on the head with the butt-end of his riding-crop. I pretended not to notice it, though it made myscalp ache and smart. Then we shall beat you and your man until you saywhat we want, the Lama exclaimed, angrily. 34 III. ^^-flJl SOLDIER WITH PIGTAIL WOUND ROUNDHIS HEAD IN THE FORBIDDEN LAND You can beat us if you like, I replied with assurance,but if you punish us unjustly it will go against your-selves. You can tear our skin off, and you can makeus bleed to death, but you cannot make us feel pain. Ando, the traitor, who spoke Hindustani fluently, actedas an interpreter whenever there was a hitch in our Tibetan conversation, and withwhat I knew of the language,and with this mans help, every-thing was explained to the Tib-etans as clearly as this, they con-tinued mercilessly to lash mypoor servant, who, in his agony,was biting the ground as eachblow fell on him and tore awaypatches of skin and Sing behaved hero-ically. Not a word of com-plaint, nor a prayer for mercy,came from his lips. He saidthat he had spoken the truthand had nothing more to intently by all theLamas and soldiers, I sat with
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