Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XX.—On the Way to the Arka-tagh
<< 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.
298
CHAPTER XX.
ON THE WAY TO THE ARKA-TAGH.
The caravan with which I myself now started for Northern
Tibet consisted of the following : the Russian Cossack
Sirkin, the Buriat Cossack Shagdur, the Mongol Shereb
Lama, the Mussulmans Mollah Shah and Li Loyeh, the dog
Yoldash, and twelve horses. The mountains, towering up
before us in all their overwhelming majesty, drew us on
with the magic of their attraction, and early on the second
day we entered the first of their glens. How delightful was
their sublime scenery ! After our long monotonous journeys
across the desert in the winter, how stimulating their ever-
changing panoramas ! And how pleasant the sound of our
voices echoing against the cliffs, and pleasanter still to fill
our lungs with pure crisp mountain air, in which there was
not one particle of dust or drift-sand !
On the bank of the river Charkhlik-su, then greatly
swollen, we had to wait a day for the arrival of a supple-
mentary c’aravan of 10 asses, which I had hired to accom-
pany us to Kum-kol and carry maize for our horses. When
they did arrive, we set off beside the stream, marching up
the glen, or, rather, ravine, for the stream had cut its way
deep through the grey granite, and the cliffs, undermined
by the tumultuous flood, often hung right over the track
like a canopy. We knew that we had to cross the river no
less than 16 times, and would therefore have to keep a sharp
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
