“Surely you have some one with you; you cannot carry all those coats and paraphernalia?”
“No, no no; I am quite alone.”
As I was standing talking to him I noticed that his eyes were looking at something behind me, and on turning round found myself confronted with three Tibetans, who had evidently crawled out from behind rocks where they were hidden. They made a dash to seize my rifle as I unslung it from my shoulders, but they were not quick enough. In a second the fourth fellow—the one sitting down—had jumped up to help his companions.
One fellow got somewhat of a dent in his skull with the butt of my rifle, the others, unluckily, ran away, and I did not pursue them, as I needed all the strength I possessed to go up the pass. As the Tibetans disappeared in the direction I had come [[202]]I became rather alarmed for my men, lest they should be taken by treachery, but I knew they could take care of themselves.
After taking a rest, for the violent exertion had caused me a deal of panting and blowing, I continued. I soon got out of the débris and boulders, where I proceeded with great caution, and got upon the snow on the north side of the glacier. For real majestic beauty the Nui Glacier cannot be surpassed. It has immense terraces of clear greenish ice, quite regular and well padded with snow on the surface; gigantic crevasses, down which one was almost afraid to look, and a background of huge white sharp-edged peaks, like the teeth of a saw, so white indeed that the stormy sky beyond looked as black as ink. It was truly one of the most impressive scenes I have ever set eyes upon. I never feel very big on any occasion, but I do not remember ever feeling quite so small and humble and insignificant as I did on that particular occasion—a mere speck, a mere black spot, disturbing the peaceful harmony of the grandiose landscape.
The Nui Glacier
I have attempted to depict the scene in one of the illustrations, but no brush nor canvas can satisfactorily reproduce the immensity of those white mountains towering around you, the incalculable [[203]]masses of snow, the almost terrifying appearance of the immense cracks in the ice hundreds of feet deep. It gave you a certain feeling of loneliness and helplessness in case of mishap, and it really made you think a good deal of how small are human beings and how puerile all their works, when compared to those accomplished by the hand of Nature.
I think it would be a good thing if a great many other authors—not to speak of our critics, who need it even more—could have an opportunity of experiencing the sensation of humility I had upon me that day.
But, humble or not, I went on and on, like a tiny little ant upon the immaculate and endless white carpet of snow, and higher and higher I gradually rose upon the mountain side towards the Nui Pass. Panting and blowing, and with a feeling that I wanted to throw away the rifle and cartridges and cameras and instruments that I was lugging up with me—oh, they were such a weight! always in the way, and ever dangling where you did not want them,—I got higher along a narrow furrow so steep as to be almost vertical. I went up for a time on loose rocks which gave way under me, and were most trying to the temper. One could not [[204]]help constant falling, and one’s poor fingers and toes got jammed to a pitiable extent.