MY FIRST MISSION TO BHUTAN
in the open, bid the Thimbu and his party a sorrowful good-bye and godspeed, and accepted from him scarves of blessing. The Tongsa Donyer, who had accompanied us everywhere throughout the whole journey, now took his leave. He was a most jovial officer, never under any circumstances put out, and ever obliging, an adept at archery and all manly games, fond of a glass but never the worse, a real Bhutanese Friar Tuck, and it was with real regret we bid him good-bye. I do not think we could possibly have had a more suitable man as our factotum, for in addition to physical qualifications he possessed a great fund of information.
A long, weary ride across sandy plains took us to the Tang-la, the monotony only broken when we missed the trail and got unexpectedly bogged. We saw several herds of gazelle and many kyang, but only succeeded in bagging a grey goose. At the top of the Tang-la my straggling caravan got divided, and the bulk proceeded to the village of Chukya, while I and the remainder kept to the main road and halted at the Chukya military encampment, so it was very late before we settled down, cold, damp, and cross. My next march brought me to Phari, ground I had already often been over, and which I have already described, so with our arrival there I will bring the account of my first mission to Bhutan to a close.
183
