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UP INTO DESOLATE TIBET. 165
Towards morning my canoe-men fell to singing to keep
themselves awake ; but we were then not very far from
the rendezvous, and just as day was breaking, up came
the caravan, marching to the sound of their own bells.
Here we quitted the canoe for the saddle, and turning
our backs upon the southern shore of the lake, we pro-
ceeded to cross the perfectly level, but monotonous and
dreary, salt desert that stretches to the foot of the moun-
tains. The sun rose in majestic splendour, flooding the
desert with light and warmth. His rays, breaking against
the fine flosky clouds which hung like a veil before him,
lit them up from behind, making them look like chaplets
of melting gold. The sky was as pure and as spotless as
turquoise. In the brilliant illumination of the oblique,
almost horizontal, rays of the rising sun the panorama of
the mountains stood out in sharp, distinct outlines—an
intensely fascinating picture ! The mountain ranges,
changing from pink to purple shades, both alike toned
down by the distance, made a harmonious but charming
background to the dry desert.
But no sooner did the sun shine out in the plenitude of
his power than the heat became oppressive, and the air
again swarmed with myriads of gadflies, which we in vain
attempted to keep oft" with our riding-whips. We halted
at an early hour of the morning beside a salt well, and for
the rest of the day it was an awful business to defend the
camels against their sworn enemies.
Next morning I was called at three o’clock, and break-
fast, consisting of tea, eggs, and bread, was served by
candle-light. An hour after that we were oft, for we had
a long road, about 40 miles, before us. We took water
with us in two or three copper utensils. The surface,
which was hard and strewn with gravel, with not a blade
of grass to be seen, ascended gently towards the foot of
the mountains. At varying and capricious distances small
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