Servant of Sahibs

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WHY Himalayan peoples should be as ready as they are to undergo hardships, and run risks of the most serious nature, in the service of any stray traveler who appears among them is not easy to understand. The payment they receive is small. They have to work for much more than an eight hours' day. And they have no insurance against accidents. Yet they readily work through long and arduous days, and willingly risk their lives. And, most wonderful of all, they are full of gratitude to their employer when they leave his service.

In this book we get an answer to the puzzle. It is written by one of themselves by a Mohamedan of Ladak, who had worked for many years in the service of English and American travelers in the Himalaya, Central Asia and Tibet. The secret is that these men, the best of them, love adventure just as much as their employers. Written in faulty English, but with the instinct of a true artist, we see on every page the spirit which animated Rassul.

RASSUL GALWAN, was born in Ladak with Pathan blood in his veins. Rassul was caravan bashi. That is to say, he had entire charge of the caravan, consisting of a nucleus of some twenty Ladaki ponies, a dozen donkeys, and six men, supplemented at one time or another by a considerable number of ponies or donkeys to carry grain, or of yaks or coolies to carry the packs over passes where the snow was deep, or of camels for desert work. Rassul handled all monies (rendering very interesting accounts), bought or hired all animals and men, estimated, bought and doled out all supplies, besides acting as diplomatic representative for his sahib, dealing for him with governors and officials. All this work Rassul did very effectively, and according to a high standard of honour.

Rassul had been "always travelling with gentlemen," as his story tells. When he joined my husband he had an English vocabulary of a dozen words, and therewith an ambition to write "the story of his happened" in the English language.

**Contents and Sample Pages**