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3IO ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
acted as my house-steward. Chernoff was the Cossacks’
cook. Our kitchen was thus separated from that of the
Mohammedans, for they will on no account eat with un-
believers, and have a horror of pots and pans into which
by any chance a piece of pork may have found its way.
Then there was a big dome-shaped yurt, occupied by
Sirkin, Shagdur and the Lama, each having his own bed,
consisting of felts, skins and a pillow. Sirkin was my
assistant in taking observations. He was able both to read
and to write, and of an evening he used to read aloud to the
other Cossacks Prschevalsky’s description of his journeys,
for I had the book with me. Shagdur was for the present
resting after his illness. I had instructed the Lama that he
need not take part in the coarser work of camp-life ; all I
expected of him was to give me lessons in Mongolian, and
later on to act as Tibetan interpreter. But it was no use ;
he
was always helping, nor did he consider any work too rough
for his tender hands, which had been more accustomed to
handle the volumes of Holy Writ than to do labourer’s
work. It was a treat to see old Turdu Bai chuckling to
himself when he saw the Lama lugging the heavy boxes
down off the camels’ backs, or lifting them up again in the
morning. This made the Lama popular in the caravan, and
stirred the Mussulmans to emulation, for no true believer
could of course let himself be beaten by a kapcr, " a heathen
"
that ate swine’s flesh.
Further, there was the little yurt, occupied by Chernoff
and Cherdon, and at the extreme opposite end of the loads
stood my vurt, guarded by Yoldash and Yolbars, sometimes
all too zealously against imaginary enemies, such as our
own horses and camels. The rest of the men had to content
themselves with bivouacs of a more makeshift description,
by stretching felt carpets across the camels’ loads and
creeping in underneath them. They used to cook their
food over various fires made in the " streets " and
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