At the time of my visit, before the Chinese walked into Tibet, the Mansarovar area was known to be dangerously bandit-ridden. Helpless pilgrims from India were frequently waylaid by gangs and robbed and beaten up, and sometimes even killed. I had been warned by Gelong repeatedly of the risk of moving around unarmed and alone, but had thought it was only his way of making the trip a little more exciting for us.
However, one morning, attended by Gelong while hunting for nests among a patch of furze bushes, I fancied I noticed a slight movement some distance ahead but paid no heed to it. When we got closer to the spot there suddenly popped up from his ambush a grimy ferocious-looking ruffian with an ugly dagger in his belt and matchlock slung over his shoulder. He promptly started shouting and gesticulating with alarming truculence which it was perhaps just as well I didn’t understand. I have never seen a living human turn so pale as Gelong did upon the bandit’s challenge; the expression ‘white as a sheet’ seems no wild exaggeration. He was visibly shivering with fright and begged me again and again in terrified undertones to flee from this ‘kharab admi’. I realized that it was now too late to think of any such action, and in any case it would have been futile as we had an endless open plain before us and no help within thirty miles. Luckily at that moment I suddenly remembered my shooting-stick (a seat, as used by cricket umpires) which Gelong was carrying. In a loud voice I ordered him to hand it to me quickly. I pretended it was a gun and mimicked loading it with a cartridge drawn from my pocket with deliberate ostentation. I take it that the bandit was unfamiliar with a contraption of this kind with its shining metal parts. He looked visibly concerned when I opened and closed the seat with a noisy klickklacking, loaded the ‘gun’ and sloped it over my shoulder like the real thing. It was now my turn to shout back sentiments which I am glad (for his own sake) the ruffian did not understand! Fortunately the bluff worked: the man’s truculence subsided at once; he turned away sullenly and made off. I marched back to the camp with mock bravado, apprehensive all the time of a bullet following us behind, and thankful for a happy ending to a most uncomfortable situation.
1a. The writer was a traveler in the Mansarovar area. This is indicated by the sentence "At the time of my visit, before the Chinese walked into Tibet, the Mansarovar area was known to be dangerously bandit-ridden."
1b. (c) a birdwatcher. This is indicated by the sentence "However, one morning, attended by Gelong while hunting for nests among a patch of furze bushes, I fancied I noticed a slight movement some distance ahead but paid no heed to it."
1c. Gelong is likely the writer's guide or companion during the visit. Evidence supporting this answer is found in the sentence "I had been warned by Gelong repeatedly of the risk of moving around unarmed and alone," and "attended by Gelong while hunting for nests among a patch of furze bushes."
1d. Gelong was terribly frightened of the bandit as indicated by the following actions:
1e. The writer decided not to run away because it was too late to think of any such action, and it would have been futile as they were in an endless open plain with no help within thirty miles. This is indicated by the sentence "I realized that it was now too late to think of any such action, and in any case it would have been futile as we had an endless open plain before us and no help within thirty miles."
1f. To make the bandit believe that he had a gun, the writer pretended his shooting-stick was a gun and mimicked loading it with a cartridge drawn from his pocket with deliberate ostentation. He opened and closed the seat with a noisy klickklacking, loaded the ‘gun’ and sloped it over his shoulder like the real thing. This is indicated by the sentences "Luckily at that moment I suddenly remembered my shooting-stick (a seat, as used by cricket umpires) which Gelong was carrying… I pretended it was a gun and mimicked loading it with a cartridge drawn from my pocket with deliberate ostentation."
1g. (b) dirty and dangerous looking.
1h. (b) moving arms and hands aggressively.
1i. (b) returned to the camp posing as a brave man.
1j. A possible title for the passage could be "A Close Encounter with a Bandit in Mansarovar."