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126 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
dunes which formed on the pages of my note-book. My
bed, too, was thickly strewn with sand. It was as much
as ever we could do to breathe in the stifling dust-laden
atmosphere.
It was an extraordinary country we passed through
during the next few days. The old river-bed is very dis-
tinctly marked, being deeply sunk in the dry clay desert
like a winding furrow or corridor. On each side of it are
weather-worn yellowish-grey tree-trunks, all dead and
dried up to tinder. They put me in mind of the grave-
stones of a pre-historic churchyard did those embalmed
mummies of most ancient trees, a stubble-field of Brob-
dingnagian dimensions !
For several days we marched through a waterless region,
but as we carried with us several goat-skins filled with ice
we suffered no inconvenience. Traces of wild-camel were
extraordinarily numerous. Chernoff, who was a mighty
hunter, was burning with impatience to try his skill upon
this, the shyest and noblest of big game. His wish was
fulfilled at Yardang-bulak, a spring where we stopped for
a day’s rest. In the morning he saw a wild-camel ap-
proaching the well-known drinking-place without any
suspicion of evil. After the first shot the camel turned and
went slowly off towards the east, the last shot having struck
her—for it was a young she-camel—full in the body. Down
she fell, but got up again and ran on a little way, then fell
again ; and this she repeated two or three times, until she
finally dropped dead. The flesh was especially welcome,
as for several days neither we nor the dogs had had any
meat. Several foxes and a vulture also got a good feast.
We took possession of the fine wool ; it was useful for
twisting into cords and ropes.
Some days later we accomplished an unusually long
march through the desert, eagerly searching for the next
spring, Altimish-bulak, or the Sixty Springs. On and on
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