LAKE KARA-KUL 
173 
sincerity and gratitude, it was when I stood up to return 
thanks for the honour done to my king. If ever there was 
a place where joy reigned supreme, it was surely here on 
the “Roof of the World,” 11,850 feet above the level of 
the sea, far removed from the bustle and noise of the busy 
world, in the very middle of Asia — a region where our 
nearest neighbours were the wild sheep of the mountain 
crags, the wolves which prowl over the snowy wastes, the 
imperial eagle which soars through the endless spaces of 
the sky. 
THE AUTHOR AND THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS AT FORT PAMIR 
