Fully Two
Dozen Caresses Of Horses Newly Dead Lay In Cavities Of The Glacier.
Our Animals Were Ill Of 'pass-
Poison,' and nearly blind, and I was
obliged to ride my yak into Leh, a severe march of thirteen
Hours,
down miles of crumbling zigzags, and then among villages of irrigated
terraces, till the grand view of the Gyalpo's palace, with its air-
hung gonpo and clustering chod-tens, and of the desert city itself,
burst suddenly upon us, and our benumbed and stiffened limbs thawed
in the hot sunshine. I pitched my tent in a poplar grove for a
fortnight, near the Moravian compounds and close to the travellers'
bungalow, in which is a British Postal Agency, with a Tibetan
postmaster who speaks English, a Christian, much trusted and
respected, named Joldan, in whose intelligence, kindness, and
friendship I found both interest and pleasure.
CHAPTER IV - MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
Joldan, the Tibetan British postmaster in Leh, is a Christian of
spotless reputation. Every one places unlimited confidence in his
integrity and truthfulness, and his religious sincerity has been
attested by many sacrifices. He is a Ladaki, and the family property
was at Stok, a few miles from Leh. He was baptized in Lahul at
twenty-three, his father having been a Christian. He learned Urdu,
and was for ten years mission schoolmaster in Kylang, but returned to
Leh a few years ago as postmaster. His 'ancestral dwelling' at Stok
was destroyed by order of the wazir, and his property confiscated,
after many unsuccessful efforts had been made to win him back to
Buddhism.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 62 of 101
Words from 16759 to 17023
of 27584
