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326 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
been very much less of late, so that the ground was dry
and hard, and at times actually a cloud of dust hung
upon the track of the caravan. Between two small lakes
flashing in the sunshine, Yoldash caught sight of an orongo
antelope, with a young one ; this last he easily caught
and killed. Thereupon I sent Shagdur after the mother
to shoot her too ; but he failed to find her. A little
further on, however, Sirkin shot a magnificent specimen
of the same species. I should say that all hunting for
mere pleasure was strictly forbidden, and no animal was
ever killed unless we wanted it for food. Besides, we
had to husband our cartridges, for nobody could say what
sort of a reception we should meet with at the hands of
the Tibetans.
Upon reaching a small pool containing a slight impreg-
nation of salt we found the grass sufficiently good to rest
beside it for over a day. In so far as one may apply the
word idyllic to a Tibetan landscape, then this was the place
to apply it to. On every side of us was nature, primitive
and uncontaminate. Nature ? Nay, it was the bare-
bones of Mother Earth. Here we had been travelling for
weeks and even months, and had not seen a single human
being except ourselves.
That night the sun set with a purple after-glow that
lingered in the west. In the east, against a purple-blue
back-ground, the full moon rose pale and chill, its light
veiled by a transparent mist, giving rise to magical
effects. Across the orb of the moon lay a ribbon of cloud,
perfectly horizontal, and as black as pitch. It was like
a crape scarf flung across a silver shield, in fact
it made me fancy that Saturn with his ring had somehow
lost his way and was coming to visit the earth. The night
was so still and quiet that I was able to take my supper,
or rather dinner, with the tent-door open and a light burning
inside. But shortly after eight o’clock there swept over
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