210 AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



double work in reloading them. A Kalmuk lost hold 

 of the rope while swimming one of the ponies, and 

 the latter was immediately carried away down stream, 

 and eventually secured some hundreds of yards lower 

 down, with my wardrobe thoroughly drenched. It 

 took us over three hours to get the whole caravan on 

 the other side, and we fervently hoped that no similar 

 straits would ever befall us again. 



We pitched camp a few miles higher up, on the 

 banks of the Kobdo, at an altitude of about 7,000 

 feet, after a short but exciting march. The valley 

 was now much narrower, and woods were growing 

 scarcer. Now and then, at turnings of the river, we 

 could catch an occasional glimpse of shining, snow- 

 clad peaks far ahead of us, the sight of which made 

 our hearts beat quicker. Yet we knew not what lay 

 before us, and insurmountable obstacles might still 

 prevent us from reaching our eagerly sought for 

 destination. Towards evening" we returned with over 

 one hundred fish, which we proceeded to hand over to 

 the demitcka, whose duty it was to distribute them as 

 fairly as possible amongst our Kalmuks. Here again 

 a misunderstanding took place, presumably owing to 

 favouritism on his part, and some of the caravan men 

 threatened to leave us. This, however, had no effect 

 upon us, for we knew that, besides running short ol 



