the Roof of the World. 



plains of the Yulduz, difficulties which were accentuated by 

 timorous caravan men, and predatory bands of robbers who were 

 a constant source of danger. 



The next morning I struck camp to cross the pass, it requiring 

 considerable efforts to instil a little life into the wretched speci- 

 mens of humanity with me, who moved about their tasks as though 

 condemned to death. I started at 7 o'clock, marching up the 

 valley towards the pass, through pine woods, and over inter- 

 mittent grass slopes. Despite all my precautions one man had 

 absconded during the night. 



The path I was following I hoped might be the right 

 one, since the Kalmuks had said though there was more than 

 one pass, the one by which they had crossed from the Yulduz 

 was the best. As the nullah branched off further up I was 

 not certain which road to take, so chancing it followed the 

 one to the north-west. A mile or two higher up the ravine 

 became narrower with long sloping ridges, covered with grass on 

 the right bank, the left clothed occasionally with clumps of fir 

 and pine. Here I reached the bivouac of some nomad shep- 

 herds encamped with their flocks. Their temporary home was 

 located beneath a spreading pine tree, consisting of merely a few 

 branches supported on cross poles and forming a rough protection 

 from the elements, the ground being strewn with leaves and 

 brushwood. 



I halted an hour here to adjust loads for the ascent of the 

 pass, now facing me at the upper end of the ravine, a dark mass 

 of rocks and shale, precipitous, but almost devoid of snow, 

 except for patches on the summit. I commandeered one of the 

 shepherds to pilot us over into the valley beyond, his attempt 

 at flight having been anticipated and measures taken accordingly. 

 The top of the pass was only a mile and a-half away, the ground 

 leading to it being along the hillside over steep grassy ridges, to 

 the point where the moraine and shale intervened, whence ensued 

 an upward sweep over rocks and debris to the crest line. Once 

 beyond I should be in the Yulduz, or rather on its southern 



170 



