Across the Roof of the World. 



Prospects, therefore, of getting the large and grunting yaks 

 through such narrow defiles did not seem very bright. The 

 Beg with me was, of course, quite unacquainted with the 

 route, but expressed his willingness to do all he could and 

 follow my fortunes into the unknown. He proved to be a 

 splendid fellow in every way and accompanied me as far as 

 Kashgar, whence he returned to his home. His name was Nadir 

 and he was certainly about the best man I found throughout the 

 whole period of my travels across Asia. With him one's arrange- 

 ments from place to place were a matter of ease, for the plucky, 

 energetic Nadir was like Napoleon's General Vandamme, of 

 whom it was said " He feared neither God nor devil." 



I could only procure four yaks, just sufficient for the baggage, 

 but the prospect of some hard walking did not perturb us, since 

 a month on the Pamirs, with its attendant work and strenuous 

 labour, had made every one very fit. 



I struck camp on the 26th, sending off the baggage at 5.30 in 

 charge of Giyani, with orders to keep moving and not allow the 

 yakmen to loiter on the way, as is their wont. An hour later, in 

 company with Nadir, I started up the narrow rocky gorge now 

 covered with ice and snow. Some distance beyond camp the gorge 

 narrowed to such an extent that sufficient room was not available 

 for the yaks to proceed so they had to be off-loaded and the kit 

 brought along by hand past these intricate defiles. Precipitous 

 ledges had to be scaled, weird snow bridges needed crossing, 

 and some 150 feet below the summit a loose, shale-covered slide 

 supervened, whose sides approached so nearly to the perpendicular 

 that it seemed hopeless trying to negotiate it. The yaks, how- 

 ever, tackled it as only yaks can, snorting and blowing, and 

 halting every now and again to "take breath, but reaching the 

 top soon after nine. 



The summit of the IH Su Pass lies at an altitude of 16,750 

 feet and is a small plateau, covered with many feet of snow, 

 now frozen solid, and would probably remain in this condition 

 until late in the summer, for the sun does not get an opportunity 



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