Across the Roof of the World. 



greatest exertions the animals were urged on again. The 

 Kazaks in charge of the ponies were not the men upon whom 

 one could rely at such a juncture, since they lacked the instinct 

 and courage necessary to extricate themselves from a difficult 

 and dangerous situation, and wished only to submit to what 

 they regarded as inevitable fate. 



Assisted, however, by Rasul I drove the caravan forward 

 like a flock of sheep in the direction of the auls I hoped we 

 should reach before dark. The wind increased in force and all 

 our beards and moustaches were a mass of icicles and encrusted 

 snow, my own mouth and nose being completely enveloped in 

 ice which accumulated as the result of respiration, the breath 

 being instantly frozen into solid icicles. 



Never in Canada or British Columbia had I experienced even 

 a semblance of the rigours of such a climate, one against which all 

 the warming influences of fur coats, fur waistcoats, sweaters 

 and eight-foot woollen scarves bought in Kulja were futile. One 

 must be made of iron to stand it — such weather as is only met 

 with in northern latitudes. By 5 o'clock the feeble light had 

 already disappeared and night came on apace as it ever does 

 in these regions. 



Whilst we endeavoured to make headway against the icy 

 hurricane the snow whirled up by the wind blinded us and pre- 

 vented our advance, forming on all sides a white sheet whose 

 folds encircled us and hampered our every movement. I could 

 feel my hands and wrists, despite thick fur gloves, becoming 

 numbed, the first indications of frost bite, whilst the caravan 

 men were in a similar plight. In the black darkness it was 

 impossible to see ahead ; we could only struggle forward, 

 urging on the animals, and force them to maintain a heading 

 against the wind and prevent their lying down, an eventuality 

 I had to guard against since I knew the caravan men would 

 rapidly follow suit. 



Several of the drivers complained loudly in an agony of 

 despair that they were frost-bitten, and that their ears and noses 



384 



