Across the Roof of the World. 



his clan, and which, when pervading the ranks of an army, 

 contributes so largely to success. 



At Tagerman Su the hospitable Kirghiz placed their only yurt 

 at my disposal, but as this would have meant turning them out 

 had I accepted, I contented myself with billeting Giyani on them 

 for the night, and slept myself outside, resuming the march at 

 daybreak to Mintaka, where we arrived soon after mid-day. 

 During the afternoon and evening the symptoms changed con- 

 siderably for the better, with an absence of the rattling in the 

 throat and difficulty in breathing that had caused me so much 

 disquietude the first two days of his illness. We occupied the 

 same yurt I had passed the night in on the day of arrival from 

 the Kanjut Valley, a large, roomy structure, warmed by the 

 cheering glow of a " burtsa " fire. The morning of May 5th 

 saw a still further improvement, which was maintained, so this 

 obviated the necessity of going to Tashkurghan. 



The day after I decided to return to Kukturuk, leaving Giyani 

 in charge of Mahomed, the head Kirghiz, who I knew would give 

 him all necessary attention. I waited another day to satisfy 

 myself that the improvement was constant, and then, taking the 

 shikari, marched back to Tagerman Su, the next morning 

 reaching the shooting camp I had left some days before. 



It was wretched weather and bitterly cold, altogether a poor 

 outlook for sport amongst the poli. On May 8th I tried the 

 famous Wakhijrui nullah, but not a sign of anything did I see, 

 so, skirting the northern slopes of the nullah into the Kukturuk, 

 reached camp once more, after a twelve-hour tramp through 

 the interminable snows of the Roof of the World. 



I now decided to try the ground in the Balderling nullah, and 

 left camp the following morning at 8 o'clock, intending to enter 

 the valley from the south and work upwards in the hope of 

 seeing some big heads. Soon after leaving camp we sighted 

 poli high up on the shale slopes at the entrance to the Kukturuk, 

 a direct approach being barred by the openness of the terrain, so 

 a long detour was necessary over some very broken ground 



72 



