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i8 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
Cossacks that ever3^thing passed off so successfully ; in
the hour of danger the knowledge that I had them at my
back always made me feel confident and safe. Moreover,
they did not cost me a penny—such was the order of their
supreme commander. They were to receive their pay
when they got home, and each man brought with him his
own horse and accoutrements, and his own new magazine
rifle of the Russian army pattern, together with a suflicient
supply of ammunition.
It was a close hot day when our long caravan defiled
through the Sand Gate of the town-wall of Kashgar.
Heavy black clouds, with hanging draperies, began to
close in upon us from the mountains. A violent gust
of wind, and a second following it, drove the dust along
the road in trailing clouds. Then the tempest burst upon
us with incredible fury. The inky black sky was slashed
with zig-zag lines of glittering blue-white fire, the thunder
crashed deafeningly, the rain came down like a shower
of slanting arrows, and within a few minutes the road
and its surroundings were converted into a splashing
puddle of clay. The horses and their riders, the camels
and their loads, were all alike drenched ; the rain ran
down us in torrents, dripping from every projecting angle.
At every step our boots went squelch, squelch, and every
bend of the arm was like wringing out a dishcloth. The
road became slippery and treacherous ; the camels, with
their flat soft padded feet, slipped and slid in every
direction. First one and then another of the huge brutes
lost its footing, out flew all four legs side-ways, and down
the poor beast thumped with its heavy load on the sloping
hill-side, making the sloppy mud fly for yards. This
caused great confusion ; the men ran and shouted, and
set to work to lift the camel up again. When at length
the beast stood upright on his own legs, he was plastered
all along one side with a thick coating of yellow clay.
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