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248 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
no water-bearing strata. To continue on towards the
north would be sheer madness. What was to be done then ?
The best thing appeared to be to trust to the map I made
the year before, and to the route which I had just plotted
across the desert, and try and reach the spring of Altimish-
bulak, the position of which I did know. Thither, then, we
now directed our steps, making long stages every day. I
led the way on foot, and seldom took refuge in the saddle ;
for when matters are serious, I am too uneasy to ride. x\ll
the men, too, travelled on foot, for we had only three
horses, and they were all pretty well exhausted.
On the i6th February we came across a regular wild
camels’ highway, for we counted no less than Sy tracks,
some of them quite fresh. Now it was quite certain that
all these camels were bound for some spring ; the question
was, how far away was it ? Perhaps several days. But
no ; we must not let ourselves be turned aside from the
course we had once decided upon. I entered on my map
every camel-track we came across ; after a while their
positions might possibly point to some conclusion that
would serve as a useful guide. For as far as ever we could
see, the country was silent and deserted, and yet only a
few hours before probably a whole troop of wild camels
had passed that way.
Things now began to look serious. For ten days our
camels had not had a drop of water. It was no use ex-
pecting them to do impossible things ; we must make haste
if we wanted to save them. On the 17th February we
were on foot all day, and all day I heard behind me the
melancholy tingle-tingle of the caravan-bells—an insistent
memento mori from which it was impossible to escape.
That day I turned in as tired as a dog, building all my hopes
upon the morrow. On the morrow, when vShagdur came
and called me, I was far from rested. At daybreak there
was half a gale blowing from the north ; but it soon in-
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