Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIV.—Exploring the Lakes of Tibet
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
196 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
back after his comrades, the water ran in streams off his
woolly flanks.
By the time I got the third camel hauled across my
hands were quite blistered, and I had to get Cherdon to
take my place. The last camel was accompanied by our
last surviving sheep, for the creature always stuck close
to the camels. After that we carried across all our baggage
in fourteen journeys, and then re-arranged our camp on
the right bank of the stream. Although that stage we
only travelled between 60 and 70 yards, nevertheless we
were hard at work all day from morning to night.
During the next few days we travelled across broken
ground, past two or three other salt lakes. Beside the
first of these Aldat shot a yak, bringing him down at the
first attempt, thus enhancing his reputation as a skilful
and brave hunter, for when wounded the yak is a dan-
gerous animal.
On 28th August we found a fresh hindrance to our
advance in yet another river. Whilst we were waiting
for Mollah Shah, who had gone to look for a suitable spot
for fording the stream, the thunder began to growl and the
sky in the west grew black. Dense masses of cloud as
heavy as lead rolled over the country like an invading
army ; but whilst the clouds of the left wing were dark,
with red-coloured edges, those of the right wing were black
as ink. Meanwhile, the scouts—that is to say, the advance
battalion, torn to pieces by the frenzied storm—were racing
along in the strangest shapes possible. In the east the
country was still bathed in bright sunshine, but in the west
the enemy was gathering closer and closer about us. " Off
with the loads and up with the tent !
" I shouted. We had
only just got up the outer framework of the yurt, and flung
two or three felts over the top spars, when the storm
burst, assailing us with its heaviest artillery of hail. Every
hailstone came as if discharged by a shot-gun, making our
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
