138 
THROUGH ASIA 
walls ; whilst the fire which blazed in the middle of the 
tent scattered showers of sparks in every direction, and 
crackled and shot out chips of burning wood to such a 
degree that a man was told off to watch lest it should burn 
holes in the carpets. 
The 4th March it snowed all day long. The landscape 
was shrouded in a thick mist, so that not a single feature 
could be seen. Sky and earth were one indistinguishable 
veil of white haze. The only relief to the eye was the 
long dark line of the caravan, shading off to a dull grey 
towards the head of the column and gradually fading 
away in the distance. Two camels led the way, their 
riders being instructed to find out "where was the firmest 
CAMELS TRAMPLING A PATH THROUGH THE SNOW 
ground. Accordingly they cruised up and down every 
rise and swelling of the path. But the snow w'as so 
deep that several times they dropped into it till scarce 
a vestige of them could be seen. Then, having scrambled 
out, they tried another place. The horses struggled on 
as best they could in the track of the camels, their packs 
and stirrups jolting and trailing against the banks of snow 
on each side of them. 
At length we caught sight of a yurt on a hill-side — 
a black spot amid the universal whiteness. A short 
distance further on we saw men engaged in putting up 
another tent. They were only about two hundred yards 
distant ; but between us and them there was a ravine 
into which the snow had drifted to the depth of eight 
or ten feet, and it took us more than an hour to get all 
