Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XV.—Seventeen Thousand Feet Above the Sea
<< 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.
2o8 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
he stood trembling, breathless and bewildered, we took
our knives and scraped off his body the thick coating of
clay with which it was covered.
In this way we crept across the dreary wilderness of
Tibet, longing eagerly for contact with our fellow-creatures ;
but we had still over 240 miles to go to reach our head-
quarters camp. Our animals were getting rapidly ex-
hausted, and were only able to do short stages ; accordingly,
I now made it a rule that we should march three days
and rest every fourth.
Meanwhile, poor Aldat was growing steadily worse.
He had lost complete control of himself, both bodily and
mentally, was as limp as a rag, and had a fixed vacant
look in his eyes. At nights he used to ramble, talking
about his mother who was dead and his old father in
Cherchen. His former hunting exploits kept haunting
his mind, and he continually called upon me, begging
permission to go out and shoot wild yak, although he was
unable to move hand or foot. At first he was able to sit
upon horse-back when well tied on, but latterly we had
to make a sort of bed for him on the back of a camel, in
which we packed him as comfortably as we could. His
feet were cold and hard as ice, and of a blue-black colour.
I tried rubbing them with snow and giving him warm
foot-baths ; but the ominous dark colour gradually crept
upwards towards his knees. He had no feeling whatever
in his feet, but suffered a good deal of pain in the heart.
One evening he asked to be put on the ground between
two camels, for the Mussulmans believe that the warmth
which is radiated from the bodies of these creatures supplies
health and strength to an invalid whose own powers are
waning. Once, when he was ill before, down in Cherchen,
he was given small scraps of paper to swallow, written over
with holy texts from the Koran ; but we had no Mollah
(priest) with us learned in the Mohammedan scriptures,
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
