Across the Roof of the World. 



man ; this would enable me to move on to Chuguchak with all 

 possible haste, as provided with relays of horses one can march 

 much further than would otherwise be the case. 



I always found the Kalmuks, and usually the Kazaks, very 

 willing to supply horses, as they did well out of it, both in cash 

 and presents, and moreover I was armed with the passport from 

 the Viceroy which the nomads would hardly dare to ignore. 



There was no water obtainable here so we improvised 

 a sufficient quantit}- by boiling some snow in the kettle, but it 

 took a most exasperating time to get hot over the cow dung fire, 

 at which Giyani and I worked with unremitting attention. We 

 none of us obtained much sleep that niglit for the thermometer 

 v/as several degrees below zero, and a nasty cold wind howling 

 through the ravine nearly reduced us to the state of mummies, 

 despite unlimited blankets and " razais." 



I was glad to get away the following morning before 

 8 o'clock, the route lying through a further succession of rocky 

 ravines of an average height of 200 feet. Three or four miles 

 out I crossed a long open plateau, and descended on the far side 

 into a fairly broad valle}^ bare of trees but with a greater showing 

 of grass than in the country previously traversed. Here I 

 found a number of Kazak auls, and arriving near them some 

 of the inhabitants came riding over to see us. From them I 

 enquired as to the whereabouts of Rasul, but as none of them had 

 apparently seen him, he had no doubt gone elsewhere. All these 

 men were clothed in furs, with fur caps reaching down over the 

 nape of the neck and the ears, and affording excellent protection 

 from the rigours of the Northern winter. They told me there 

 were more auls further up the valley, so I decided to push on, and 

 at 4 o'clock in the afternoon reached them, but there was no 

 sign of Rasul or his party, so I began to get anxious and sent 

 men off in search of him. 



I had an aul brought down to cook in, whicli also served as a 

 dining room, as it was too cold in the tent. This aul was carried 

 down by all the old ladies and girls in the place, their ages varying 



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