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444 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
out. Then the storm quickened up into a full-fledged
hurricane. A good thing we were not exposed to its fury !
The narrow rift in which the Chargut-tso is situated appeared
to act as a conduit for every storm and tempest in that
region.
Yet within an hour the squall, violent as it was, had
spent itself. The waves subsided to a gentle swell, the sun
dipped towards the horizon, and the Chargut-tso was
simply lovely. We pushed off, and Kutchuk began to pull
hard, and very soon we reached the deepest part of the
lake, about 157^^ feet. We had already passed all the
sheltering headlands and were entering the biggest reach,
or fjord, of the lake, when the thunder again began to
rumble, and we saw fresh storm-centres scattering
rain and snow over the mountains to the north and to the
south, though over the lake it was still clear, and the sun
set amid a wreath of light fleecy clouds.
We were then steering for the southern side of the lake,
where the cliffs descended precipitously into the water,
when we saw a mass of steel-blue cloud rise threateningly
above it. Its under side gleamed fiery yellow, as though it
were passing over a conflagration. We knew well enough
what that meant. But as there was no protecting headland
in sight, our only chance was to pull against the wind and
get under the shelter of the cliffs themselves, though they
were still a long way off.
But the tempest burst upon us with startling suddenness.
" Pull, Kutchuk, pull for your hfe." Every time our little
craft pitched and her taut canvas struck against the on-
coming wave, she shivered and groaned from stem to stern.
Every moment we kept expecting to hear her canvas rend
with a crack. We were pulling long, steady strokes and
putting into them all the force we had stored in our muscles.
The tempest, becoming concentrated into the narrow
passage-way between the chffs, increased in violence.
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