Across the Roof of the World. 



saved my own hands and nose by vigorous rubbing, as also 

 Yusuf's left check, which, though Iiorribly swollen, was still 

 sound and not permanently affected. 



I did not pass a pleasant night with all the sick and sorry 

 ones around me, worries that assumed greater proportions when 

 I contemplated the possibility of Giyani losing both hands. 

 Poor little man, he was in a sad way, but the warrior spirit within 

 him went far to lessen the strenuousness of the occasion. 



All hope of reaching Kobdo and traversing the country north 

 of the Altai had now to be abandoned, and I resolved to make for 

 Zaisan, a small Russian mihtary post on the Russo-Mongolian 

 frontier, where I knew medical aid would be available. 



That night the turning point in the expedition was reached, 

 for I realised to the full it was no longer possible to entertain 

 the hope of going on through Mongolia, or of obtaining any 

 shooting in the Altai, and that the game was a lost one. 

 Nothing, therefore, now remained to be done except reach 

 Zaisan as rapidly as possible, and thence trek on to the Trans- 

 Siberian Raihvay and civilisation. 



The blizzard continued with undiminished fury throughout 

 the night, and on the morning of the 29th was still blowing 

 great guns, bitterly cold as usual, and a dismal, gloomy day. 



It was now necessary for me to go back to Shara Sumbe to see 

 the Chinese Governor and obtain a passport to traverse the 

 country down the Irtish Valley into Russian territory, since 

 the one I possessed only covered the land between that town 

 and Kobdo. I knew that unless I was provided with proper 

 credentials I should meet with diffiiculties on the way, besides 

 which the caravan men refused point blank to go on to Zaisan. 

 I therefore set out with Rasul and the Mongol Beg, after tending 

 Giyani and making him comfortable, to make fresh arrangements 

 in accordance with the alteration in the programme necessitated 

 by the circumstances. 



That day was one I would feign forget and relegate to the 

 limbo of the past, but the memory of it will always remain. Half- 



386 



