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150 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
But this tendency the Lop-men parry with their paddles,
which nearly always lie flat on the water ; besides which
they balance themselves with as much unconscious ease and
certainty as w^e do on a bicycle.
In order to avoid the shallow water we had to keep a
good bit out from land ; but the lake now ran so high
that the crest of every wave swept right over the low gun-
wale of the canoe, and I was soon sitting in a sitz-bath.
The situation was critical ; we could not hold out much
longer, and the canoes were already half full of water. All
at once down went Sirkin’s canoe, and its occupants lay
scrambling in the surge. The men reached shore partly
by wading, partly by swimming, and after a while we saw
them calmly wringing the water out of their clothes.
Meanwhile my canoe was being tossed about like a nut-
shell. I was kept busy bailing, while the canoe-men
plied their paddles with all their might, making straight for
shore. Every wave drenched us as with a shower-bath ; so
that the felts upon which I was sitting were soon saturated
through and through. Involuntarily we shrank from every
fresh wave that approached. Ha ! down we go ! Out
jumps every man, and fortunately the water is shallow, only
reaching to our waists. I only just managed to save my
instruments and papers.
It was pitch dark when we began our return journey. In-
deed, it quite puzzles me how the canoe-men were able to
find their way amongst the sand-banks in the river, yet
they never once ran aground. A fire was burning on the
shore, and the " saloon " of our ferry-boat was brilliantly
lighted up when we arrived alongside.
The next day we started with the ferry-boat, which
travelled down stream at a good smart pace. The crew
consisted now of Sirkin and Shagdur, Ordek, and four
men at the punting-poles, besides two fine old fellows,
namely, Pavan Aksakal (the white-bearded hunter) and
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