ROUND THE TENT FIRE. 93 



very light repast, and only a bit of bread in our 

 pockets to last the day ! I had never felt the 

 altitudes farther south in Tibet or Ladak half so 

 much as here, which, I fancy, is due to the cold 

 being greater farther north, though our altitude 

 to-day was not over 17,000 feet at the most. 



We had a snug little dinner that evening in my 

 tent, which was the largest of the three, and after- 

 wards sat round a big fire made of a sort of peat, 

 of which we found a fine deposit close to camp. 

 This is formed by the droppings of sheep, which 

 are always penned close together at night ; and as 

 the Kirghiz invariably camp on the same spot, 

 it gradually accumulates, and being hardened and 

 dried by the summer sun, when dug up into peats 

 it forms excellent fuel. To make a good fire of 

 it, it has to be built into a hollow cone open at the 

 top. In the middle of this cone a heap of dry 

 burtsa is placed. This burns fiercely for a bit, 

 and sets alight the inside of the peats, whilst 

 the air penetrates all round through the inter-, 

 stices. Once the pile is well alight, it throws out 

 great heat,, and never goes out until the whole is 

 consumed. The only drawback to this style of 

 firing is the smell of the smoke, which is horrible ! 



The following morning was lovely, not a cloud 



