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230 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
not so fatal. I may add here that we dragged Togdasin
all the way with us till we got back to head-quarters,
tending him as best we could ; but his illness was very
stubborn. We managed to get him down to the lowlands
alive, to the little town of Charkhlik, where he recovered,
but he was a cripple for the rest of his life. His feet turned
black like Aldat’s, and they literally rotted away piece by
piece, first the toes, and then the muscles of the feet. But
the last time I saw him in April, 1901, he was in the very
best of good humour, and never uttered one single word of
complaint. I gave him a present of a horse, clothes, and a
sum of money, and he did not know how to thank me
enough.
To return to our expedition. The boat was got ready
early on the morning of the i8th November, and Tokta
Akhun then rowed me across the smooth bright lake. But
this time we were prudent, and in addition to sail, oars,
life-belts, sounding apparatus, and other instruments, we
carried with us sufficient provisions to last two days, as
well as a copper vessel full of water, a small bag filled with
ice, and skins and felts. The little skiff was so packed that
we had scarcely room to move.
It was lovely weather. The eastern part of the lake was
thickly dotted over with thin sheets of ice, which flashed
so dazzlingly in the sunshine that we had to put on snow-
glasses. The very slightest disturbance made by our boat
caused them to rock and grind together. This ice came
out of the river which emptied into the lake, for the lake itself
was excessively salt, too salt to freeze.
Whilst we were busy sounding, the time flew rapidly
away. Towards sunset we saw whirlwinds of dust careering
along the southern shore ; then we heard the usual roar
that precedes a storm, and very soon we were caught in the
teeth of the wind. W^e kept, however, to our own course,
until our heavily-laden boat began to pitch and toss to such
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