A Dreadful Ride. 



way across the plain the Mongol rode up to me and said his chin 

 was as hard as a stone, the appearance of it being a ghastly white, 

 a sure indication of frost-bite. 



We were riding due north and therefore experienced the 

 full force of the wind blowing from the mountains, so 

 it became more than ever necessary to reach Shara Sumbe quickly 

 before becoming frozen as stiff as planks. The deep snow and hard 

 going, however, militated against any attempt to force the pace 

 and it was nearly 4 o'clock before we arrived at the welcome 

 shelter of Haji Ismail Bai's house. 



On the way I had felt my hands, legs and feet becoming 

 numbed and devoid of all life, despite huge top boots and several 

 pairs of felt and woollen stockings, two pairs of trousers and 

 a fur coat amongst other articles of raiment. 



Gradually the feeling of numbness wore off which, had I known 

 it, was the critical moment when instant action should have been 

 taken, but the combined effect of driving snow and the desire 

 to get out of it alive, and that right soon, caused me to forget the 

 imminent danger, and to postpone treatment until beyond the 

 piercing wind. It was not until I had dismounted in the court- 

 yard of Ismail Bai's house — or rather, had been helped out of 

 the saddle — that I saw I had been badly frost-bitten in the right 

 leg and more particularly the knee. My hands, too, were in a 

 parlous condition, and so were Rasul's, as well as his face. We 

 indulged in some tremendous rubbing with snow, and in the 

 end saved the situation, all except my leg, which was too far 

 gone to yield to treatment. I rubbed it with snow as I had 

 never rubbed before, and when blood began to ooze out and the 

 parts to soften I hoped it might not prove to be a bad case. 



Ismail Bai produced a Chinese doctor from the town, who 

 came armed with weird plasters and poultices composed of 

 some doubtful looking mixtures, to the application of which I 

 submitted, though not at all sanguine as to the good results 

 the Chinese medico assured me would eventuate. I passed a 

 comparatively quiet night, but in the morning the affected parts 



387 2 c 2 



