DECEPTIVE GROUND 255 



enterprise, for frightened sheep go a long way. I 

 left the ponies behind a small boulder, and hurrying 

 on in their direction found them again a mile further 

 on. They had now quieted down, and were care- 

 lessly feeding, though looking back now and again. 

 Leaving my Kalmuk, I crept on behind a row of 

 small rocks, but, alas ! the wind was shifty, and I 

 had not advanced half an hour before I saw them 

 start off again. My hopes had gone for that day. 

 I now found myself in broken ground, and had 

 entirely lost the direction from which I had come, 

 so that I was at a loss to know where I had left 

 the ponies. The sheep had engrossed my whole 

 attention, and I had failed to notice my direction, 

 the ground being everywhere very much alike. 

 Strange to say, I could hardly be over a mile away 

 from my hunters, and yet, though I shouted at the 

 top of my voice, I could get no answer. I wandered 

 about in this manner in every direction, and was 

 about giving up the search, when I suddenly found 

 the ponies and men quietly lying down within fifty 

 yards behind the boulder where I had left them. 

 This was not the first time I had found the ground 

 most deceiving in those regions, and I decided hence- 

 forward never to be left alone again on the steppe. 

 It was now nearly dusk, and it was not until 9 p.m. 



