CHAPTER V
In the meantime the Tibetans, who had hastily retreated across the boundary into their country, had given the alarm of the approach of my expedition. A spy I had sent over reported that great commotion reigned at Taklakot. Bridges had been hastily destroyed, stone barriers were put up, while warlike preparations of all kinds were carried on in feverish speed. A bluffing message was sent over by the Tibetans to inform the Political Agent that 5000 men were ready to meet my force and capture me again, when they would cut off my head and throw my body into the river—a threat which was by no means new to me.
This sounded interesting, only the Tibetans forgot that they would have to catch me first! The passes—both the Lippu and the Lumpiya (through the latter of which I had evaded their vigilance on my first journey)—were, they stated, [[44]]strongly guarded. I well knew the contemptible cowardice of the Tibetans, and I took but little notice of these threats; for this time—unlike my first journey—I had twenty men, all of my own selection, and they were magnificent fellows—faithful and plucky to quite an unusual degree.
Red Lamas
In answer to these Tibetan messages to the Government, it is possibly of some interest to notice that the Government of the North-West Provinces in all haste informed the authorities of Taklakot in words to this effect:—
“Mr. Landor is coming to Tibet. Possibly he will enter the country. The Government of India has taken steps to prevent any men accompanying him, also to take away his baggage, provisions, arms, and ammunition. He will enter alone and will be at your mercy. We [the Government] are in no way responsible for his entering Tibet.”
This message surprised me even less than the Tibetan effort. Indeed, I well knew that no one more than some officials of the North-West Provinces wished me dead. You see, I had on several occasions shown them up in a very poor light, and now again I was discovering fresh and most unaccountable misdeeds on their part all along the line. Naturally, I quite understood that it was an [[45]]uneasy conscience and the fear of being exposed which prompted them to act in such a childish manner in order to prevent my seeing what was going on.
The Political Agent, who was constantly receiving orders which he was powerless to carry out, such as arresting me,—which I defied him to do,—seemed in much distress, and to relieve the strain upon him I decided to cross over into forbidden Nepal territory. The British authorities had taken the precaution to warn the Nepalese also that I might cross over their boundary, that my conduct was not countenanced by the Government, and that soldiers must be sent to stop me and possibly capture me. This led to some incidents which gave us a good deal of unexpected merriment.
A guard of Nepalese soldiers was hurried up, and, unaware that it was there, I crossed over the boundary, with our rifles in their cases for protection against the rain, and not at all prepared for war. Two of my men, who carried a rifle each, were a distance ahead. On nearing a small fort and guard-house they were pounced upon by Nepalese soldiers who were hiding behind some rocks, the rifles were seized, and the Nepalese escaped with them into the fort up higher upon the hill. [[46]]
My men ran back to me in a great state of excitement to report the occurrence. We hurriedly prepared a plan of attack, and without losing any time climbed up to the fort. Upon the walls some gaily attired figures peeped over, brandishing kukris and a few obsolete rifles. I could hear them behind strengthening the hastily barricaded door. An officer peeped over and asked what we wanted.
Tibetan Man spinning Wool
“I want my rifles back.”
“Your rifles are not here. We have already despatched them to Katmandu” (the capital of Nepal).
“Very good. If you do not return my rifles within two minutes we will come and get them ourselves.”
“We will fight you.”
“All right.”
Pounding with big rocks and by the aid of a wooden lever we got the door loosened, and while the garrison’s attention was directed to prevent our entering that way, four of my best men and I climbed over the wall on the opposite side of the fort and covered the defenders with our rifles. I demanded that they should lay down their weapons or I would shoot. After some indecision, most of them did. The others, especially one who fired at [[47]]us, got a severe pounding and were disarmed by my men, who had now all entered the fort.
We ransacked the place, and eventually recovered the captured rifles, after which we bade the Nepalese a respectful salaam and proceeded on our way.
“But,” humbly put in the trembling Nepalese, “you cannot travel on Nepal territory. It is forbidden to foreigners, and I have orders to stop you.”
“Very well, do it!”
“I cannot,” he meekly mumbled, as he rubbed aching bruises he had received in the encounter. “But,” he said, “I will follow your movements.”
“Oh, you can follow any movements you like, but mind you do not come too near.”
“Oh, no, no, sahib!” he exclaimed.
The guard, in fact, followed us for some days—and always at a most respectful distance—until we got high up among the snows and glaciers. Then we lost sight of them. Anyhow, I had no further annoyance all through my journey in Nepal, and found the few natives we saw quite attractive, picturesque, and kind.
After leaving the fort we travelled practically south-east over very rough country, my objective [[48]]being to visit and if possible climb one of the Lumpa peaks which towers in a majestic needle above most other mountains in the neighbourhood. Every now and then, when we got to some higher point of vantage, we got a beautiful view of it. My men—to my astonishment—received my plan with enthusiasm, for they seemed to hold the snows in veneration. Little they then knew how much they would have to suffer upon them.
In that portion of North-West Nepal the population is sparse and somewhat mixed. Perhaps the finest and most interesting types I saw were the cross-breeds of Shokas and Nepalese, which seemed to produce most striking heads. One of the coloured drawings representing a typical Nepalese-Shoka young man, with temples shaved and long wavy hair hanging down his back, is, I think, a good example. These men had very fine traits about them, were most hospitable and civil, manly and serious in manner. They were enterprising traders, carrying on a brisk business mainly in borax, salt, wool, and skins, which they generally bartered with Tibetans in exchange for grain, ghur, and other food stuffs.
A Nepalese Shoka
It is rather interesting to note that whereas similar frontier tribes on neighbouring British soil [[49]]are imposed upon, taxed and ill-used by Tibetans, no interference at all is experienced by those living under the protection of the King of Nepal. Possibly this is due to the fact that when Nepalese subjects have been ill-used in Tibet an armed expedition has been sent over the frontier by the Nepalese, and reparation demanded and obtained at once.
Nepalese women are not unattractive, having large brown eyes, made additionally languid by blackening the lower lid, long eyelashes and well-cut features, skin of a well-polished, smooth, light-yellowish brown, and most graceful hands and feet. The better class are generally much decorated with heavy silver necklaces, bracelets, and rings, and with huge nose-rings of gold, brass, or silver. They are handsome while young, but they fade away at an early age, and the smooth skin becomes wrinkled and grooved long before they are thirty. They are said to be most affectionate, and of a somewhat jealous temperament, which they couple with extreme conjugal fidelity.
In Western Nepal the hair is worn in many little plaits festooned on both sides of the forehead, and a head-cover, white, yellow, or red, such as is seen in India among Hindoo women, is usually worn.
The women have comparative freedom, and [[50]]seldom are they seen completely veiled. Sati or suttee, the widow’s self-sacrifice by throwing herself upon the flames which have cremated her dead husband, is now forbidden by law in Nepal. It is, nevertheless, indulged in to some extent in districts far away from the capital.
Nepal is principally known to English people as the country from which, by a special agreement, we draw recruits for our Gurkha regiments. It should, nevertheless, be borne in mind that not all people living in Nepal are by any means Gurkhas—far from it. We find in Nepal a great variety of types—some pure enough, others distinct mixtures of two or more races.
The Gurkha district proper lies in the north-easterly portion of the Gandak basin, the chief city being Gurkha, some fifty-four or fifty-five miles to the west of the Nepalese capital, Katmandu.
Formerly Nepal’s sovereignty extended over Kumaon, which we have already traversed, as far as the Sutlej River. The Nepal kingdom, as it stands now, is an elongated tract of country—mostly mountainous—some 500 miles in length, and less than 150 miles in breadth at its widest points. As everybody knows, it is situated on the southern slopes of the central Himahlyan range, [[51]]and borders with Tibet on the north, Kumaon (North-West Provinces) to the west, the Kali River, as we know, forming the boundary; the North-West Province and Bengal to the south, and Sikkim to the east.
Nepal is divided into three natural zones by high ranges with peaks rising from 25,000 to 28,000 feet, these ridges shooting off southwards from the main Himahlyan range. The eastern zone is drained by the Kosi River, the central by the Gandak, and the Western by the Gogra. To the above should be added what is called the Terai and the thickly-populated Nepal Valley, which, geographically, must be classed separately. Formerly Nepal was divided into twenty-four principalities in addition to the Gurkha kingdom, but since the invasion by the latter of the entire country they have been divided into five provinces—viz. Gurkha, Malibam, Palpa, Pokra, and Khachi.
In the space at my disposal I cannot enter into the history nor go into a detailed description of the many tribes which inhabit Nepal, but generally speaking, in the aboriginal stock a Mongolian origin is evident, particularly in the population of the central zone, where recent Tibetan influence is marked; but this is not the case with the [[52]]inhabitants of the lower region, who seem to have descended partly from a mixture of an earlier Tibetan and Aryan source. Perhaps among the most prominent aboriginal tribes we should mention the Magars, Gurungs, Newars, Sunwars, the Khambas or Khambus, and Yakhas (the latter two closely resembling Rais), the Yakthumbas, Murmis, and Lepchas. Then in the forests of Western Nepal we find to this day wild tribes of Chepangs and Kasundas.
A Nepalese Lady
In the Terai district live the Tarus, a servile and ill-shaped people of no great strength of character; in the eastern zone we have Limbus, a name which practically includes Kirantis, Ekas, and Rais—a people of apparently Tibetan origin, flat-faced, beardless, and with long unplaited hair, who wear wide trousers and a short jacket instead of the long coat of the Lepchas.
The central zone, from which most of the recruits for the British Gurkha regiments are drawn, is inhabited by a small but strongly built, warlike, and plucky people, the Magars and Gurungs, the Magars being in their turn subdivided into six distinct tribes, of which the Thapa tribe is the most numerous. Both the Magars and the Gurungs—who are somewhat taller and more [[53]]stoutly built than the Magars—although of marked Mongolian characteristics, are by religion Brahmins, but have no sort of strong caste prejudices such as one finds, for instance, in India. Gay and simple-minded, with hearts of gold, faithful and obstinate to an extreme degree, independent in themselves yet loyal to their friends or employers, fond of fighting and possessing the courage of lions, these fellows make wonderful soldiers indeed. Perhaps in many ways they are not unlike the Japanese, both in appearance and temperament, except that the physique of the Gurkha is the superior of the two.
In the Valley of Nepal—or Nepal proper—we find mostly Newars and Murmis. The Newars, who claim to be the aborigines of the Nepal Valley, are in many ways not unlike the Bhotias or Shokas, and in many of their customs and in their habitations show a marked similarity to those tribes of Mongolian descent. Their language resembles Tibetan, and their religion is a modified form of inherited Buddhism. The Newars are much given to agricultural pursuits, and they do not display so prominently the fighting qualities of the Magars and Gurungs. On the contrary, they seem to devote all their energy to art and trade, of which [[54]]they seem to have the entire monopoly in Nepal. The Murmis resemble Bhotias even more closely than the Newars. They are subdivided into two classes—the Barathamang, which is the most numerous, and the Atharajat.
Katmandu, the capital of Nepal and residence of the King and Government, lies in this valley, and is a city of great size and some beauty.
The Terai is inhabited by a poor, sickly-looking race called the Tarus, malarial fever being rampant in their district, while wild beasts abound in the jungle. They seem to be a poverty-stricken lot with a wretched physique—although endowed with astounding strength and powers of endurance. They divide their time between fishing, agriculture, and hunting wild animals.
Now comes the western zone, which is entirely inhabited by non-Gurkha tribes, such as the Doti and Jumli (the Doti’s country being south of the Jumli’s), as well as by wilder tribes, such as the Chepangs and Kusundas, the former being very similar to the Raots or Rajis of Kumaon. Then there are minor Hinduised tribes generically known as Parbatiyas (or hill men). [[55]]