Across the Roof of the World. 



When I looked out on the morning of the: I5tli it was bitterly 

 cold, while tlu> remains of last night's tea were frozen into a solid 

 block in the kettle standing by the fire. Breakfast was an icy 

 affair, after discussing whicli I lighted the small bushes and grass 

 around the camp to warm us all a little. The ponies presented a 

 picture of abject misery, being simply perished in the cold, 

 their still forms, silhouetted against the sky, betraying no sign 

 of life. 



Loading up was alw-ays our worst task as the night's frost 

 reduces everything to a state of rigidity and makes the work a 

 trebly hard one. Every piece of metal seared the hands if 

 touched, so it was always necessary to halt some distance out and 

 re-adjust loads and tighten the ropes, which we then were better 

 able to do, since the temperature was less Arctic than in the early 

 morning. 



My route that day lay through the undulating hill country 

 due east till nearly noon, when I turned south-east, in the 

 direction of a karaul said to be situated in the hills. These 

 karauls are established along the frontier line and at some distance 

 from it as the outward and visible sign of Celestial occupancy, 

 and are held by a few Mongol levies armed with weapons ancient 

 and rusty. The karauls are merely a collection of two or three 

 auls in a sheltered position m the hills, the levies being occupied 

 with their flocks during the summer months and remaining 

 stationary throughout the winter. I was glad to reach the 

 karaul in the evening, for a biting wind had set in soon after 

 marching that morning and increased in force as the day wore on. 



The karaul lay in a sheltered side ravine hard b}' the Russian 

 frontier, on the southern slopes of the Saur Mountains, wherein 

 is found a specimen of the wild sheep of Central Asia. This 

 range here forms the dividing line between the two Empires, 

 and at this particular point runs to a height of about 5,000 

 feet. There were four auls at this karaul, with a strong 

 contingent of dogs, the inhabitants being Mongols, a cheery, 

 interesting race of people. They prepared one of the auls for me, 



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