Smarting Under These Indignities, And
Knowing That The Sipahee Was The Head And Front Of The Offending, I,
In A Weak Moment, Committed An Assault Upon That Ferocious Warrior.
The
consequence was that the representative of "The Army," feeling its
dignity insulted in the face of the populace,
Immediately set to work
upon the unfortunate natives, and assaulted even the gopa, or kotwal,
of the village; and so severely was one of the coolies handled, that
I was obliged to interfere in the cause of peace, and not without
difficulty succeeded in stopping the stone I had thus so unwittingly
set rolling.
This same Sipahee rejoiced in the name of Dilour Khan, which might be
loosely translated the "Invincible One," and such we always called
him. He was a fierce-looking soldier beyond measure to look at,
and very terrible among the miserable Thibetians, making desperate
onslaughts upon the unfortunate boors, to obtain supplies fit, as he
said, for the Grandees, the Cherishers of the Poor, the Protection
of the World, &c.
The style of head-dress generally worn among the natives facilitated
his efforts immensely in these matters; for, throwing aloft his
sword, and relinquishing his umbrella, he used to seize suddenly
upon a pig-tail, and, handling it after the fashion of a bell-rope,
proceed to insist upon the production of impossible mutton and other
delicacies in a way that was almost always successful, even under
circumstances apparently the most hopeless.
He had a sharp, detonating way, too, of delivering a volley of
Thibetian, at the same time curling up his fierce-looking moustaches
and whiskers, and gesticulating with both arms, which always had
a great effect, the more so that the expletives were generally in
Hindostanee, and not being understood, were all the more terrible to
the unfortunate pig-tails on that account.
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