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Aleister Crowley Diary Entry Saturday, 7 June 1902
On the 7th we went on to Paiyu, the scenery steadily increasing in grandeur, some of the mountains being magnificent beyond description. At one point we crossed an enormous fan of debris, and on reaching the highest point the Baltoro suddenly thrust itself before our eyes with its towering guard of sentinel peaks. One of great height we took to be the Mustagh Tower of “K2,” which latter mountain I shall in future refer to by its proper native name, Chogo Ri, merely passing over with a single word of contempt the ridiculous pretensions of Godwin-Austin to call the second highest mountain in the world by his own cacophonous name. We reached Paiyu before noon. Abdulla Khan, on our counting the fowls, told us that two had died. I am afraid they had, but if they had died in any legitimate way he would, of course, have shown us the bodies. It was quite out of the question, therefore, that we should allow these servants to remain in charge of our base camp as we had intended. We held a summary court martial in the presence of the Chaprasi of the Tehsildar of Skardu, who had come with us, and of the Wazir of Alchori, who had also attached himself to so renowned a convoy as we of course appeared to native eyes; it being the first time in history that six white men had been at one time at Skardu; so Abdulla and his two partners in crime were packed off and sent back. By the coolies who accompanied them we sent warning to all whom it might concern that these men were scoundrels, and that they were to be on their guard against them. As they were packing up for their departure Abdulla Baig, the second of the ruffians, complained that Hassan, a clever and useful little Balti boy whom we had picked up in the Leh Road, and attached to out corps of Naukars, owed him a rupee for a coat. This was Abdulla Baig’s old coat, green with brass buttons, and very much worn; which he had discarded when we had provided him with a fine new coat against the cold. The Balti boy said he had paid the rupee; which I have no doubt was true, though probably not by his own will, as the coat was barely worth an anna. Abdulla Khan would, of course, have deducted the cash from his “talab.” The whole of the “Arabian Nights” flashed through my mind in a single second, and I saw my way to an act of poetic and Oriental justice. I simply made the two change coats; the old coat was Abdulla Baig’s, as Hassan had not paid for it; but the new coat was mine, and I had a perfect right to give it to Hassan. This arrangement greatly pleased the multitude.
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