The water, about which we had been unable to make up our minds, proved to be a large shallow salt-water lake. We found it best to march round by the southern shore. In some places there were tiny rivulets flowing into it, which caused us some trouble in crossing, for the bottom and ground around was muddy. Otherwise the going was good, and we marched on till it was almost dark.
Our men that morning had behaved in a peculiar way, for each of them had come to make his salaam to us; not that we attached much importance at the time to it, still it flitted across our minds that they were becoming very faithful muleteers all at once, and perhaps intended doing better work for the future. That evening we impressed upon them the necessity of making double marches again, as the last two days we had only made single, and told them how impossible it was to march much further without meeting somebody, and gave orders for them to commence loading at 3.30 a.m.
On waking up the following morning we found no attempt was being made to collect the mules, and it was 5 o'clock before they could be induced to bring them all in from grazing. Then we noticed that muttering was going on, but no attempt at loading up. Failing to elicit any reply from them for their conduct, I upbraided them severely for their laziness, and told them that if the only thing they wanted was to remain where they were and not come along with us any more, to do so by all means, but that Malcolm, Shahzad Mir, and myself, whatever they might choose to do, intended marching. Thereupon they replied sullenly that they would go no further, and hurriedly taking up their belongings from amongst a heap of baggage, they moved off in a body in a southerly direction, and were soon hidden from sight by the rising ground.
All this happened in a very short space of time, and fortunately, at the moment of the dispute, Esau and Lassoo were a little way off, busy with our things, or they too would have joined the deserters, as they one day afterwards told us. As it was, when we began to collect the mules again to try and load them, Lassoo was very uncertain in his mind as to which party he should throw his lot in with. Had he gone off with the muleteers, our difficulties would have been doubled, for none of us had had much experience in loading mules, and, even with it, loading a mule properly is no easy matter, whereas Lassoo had been a muleteer, and was far handier and quicker at the work than any of our other men. This we had already noticed, as he often used to give them a helping hand.
It was some time before we could collect all the mules again. Some of them seemed to know there was something up, and there was every chance of their being deserters. One little black chap in fact was so clever at evading our united efforts to catch him, that we had to give him up as a bad job, and load eleven animals instead of twelve.
We were reduced to so small a party that Shahzad Mir had to carry the plane-table. Either Malcolm or myself, taking a mule by the head rope, would lead the way, leaving only three to drive the mules along and keep them together, and readjust the loads, which was frequently necessary owing to our inexperience.
On looking over our baggage we found we had made one great mistake; we had allowed the muleteers to go off with the twenty remaining pounds of flour. But we had no inclination to run after them; they might have led us a chase for days, by which time the flour would have been eaten. What we were most anxious to do was to let these men see that we were in a position to be independent of their help, for we surmised they would very likely be watching us from a distance.
We learnt afterwards that these muleteers had deserted in accordance with a preconcerted plan, formed even before leaving Shushal, on the Pangong Lake, when every man had sworn to follow Ghulam Russul, whatever he might choose to do, and they had agreed amongst themselves to leave us as soon as the rations ran short. Furthermore, Ghulam Russul, whom they well knew had been with Littledale on his last famous journey, had deluded them into the idea that he could show them the way into Lhassa. They had imagined that if they all left us, it would be impossible for us to load up and march without them, and that we should be compelled to remain where we were. At night-time they had planned to come and steal our mules and ride on them to the capital.
As we moved off, we felt somewhat anxious in our minds as to whether we should find water, grass, and droppings for our fire, for if we met with ill luck we thought it quite probable that Esau and Lassoo too would join the muleteers. This of course would have been suicidal to them, as we were some 300 miles from Lhassa, which, as far as we knew, was the nearest inhabited place, and the exact direction of it they could not possibly have known.
We made a long march, longer than we had made for many a day, till we came to a large salt lake, round which we had to skirt. Everywhere grassy nullahs sloped down to it, and during the afternoon we came to a secluded nook with a pool of fresh water, and all around were the dried droppings of yak; evidently the place was a favourite haunt of these animals. This was a perfect camping ground for us, and, to prove to our two men how favourable our kismet was, we decided to halt. We all set to work with the unloading and watering of the mules, pitching the two little tents, making fires, and the numerous other little jobs always connected with making a camp. It seemed peaceful and quiet after all the grumbling and bickering we had been accustomed to. We were close by the edge of the lake, completely concealed in a hollow by rising ground on all sides, and we were rather anxious that the mules should not stray too high up and disclose our whereabouts. We concluded that these muleteers would not have sufficient courage and determination to march straight away, and were prepared to see an attempt being made any moment at capturing some of the mules.