422 THE HUNTING GROUNDS 



of the horizon, was a dense mist, which, notwith- 

 standing the distance, I have no doubt hung over 

 the Caspian. It was a glorious sight ; and I re- 

 mained gazing as long as I could endure the biting 

 cold, notwithstanding that I felt half blinded by 

 the strange reflection of the sun from the- snow, 

 for the broad peak of my hunting-cap had no 

 effect in keeping out the glare ; and we were each 

 obliged to fasten a strip of my silk handkerchief 

 across our eyes, in order to enable us to see the 

 way. Having refastened the ropes we commenced 

 the descent, and had made our way a consider- 

 able distance down the first ridge, by following 

 our own tracks, when suddenly I heard a cry of 

 alarm behind, and simultaneously felt the cord jerk. 

 I turned and saw Hoossain supporting the Nubian, 

 who was stretched senseless on the snow. At first I 

 thought he was in a fit, and rubbed his forehead with 

 snow, but on further examination I found breathing 

 suspended, the pulse and heart still, and I knew all 

 was over. I always carried a knife in which there 

 was a lancet, so I opened the veins in his arms and 

 temples, but could hardly squeeze out a drop of blood. 

 He was dead, and I believe the cause to have been 

 an affection of the heart. It was a melancholy end 

 to our hitherto successful enterprise, but nothing 

 could be done. We unfastened the cord which 

 attached him to the others, and laid him gently down 

 to take his last sleep, en a ledge of rock, where his 

 body would remain as undisturbed as if buried in 



