380 
THROUGH ASIA 
the sides of the mountain, smothering us in clouds of fine 
powdery snow. The three Kirghiz, having passed the 
night in the open air, were half dead with cold, and could 
scarcely drag themselves into the yurt, where a large fire 
was burning. We all felt ill and depressed. Nobody 
spoke ; nobody would eat anything ; and when the tea, 
which was not even properly hot, was ready, I was so 
exhausted I could hardly lift it to my lips. The yaks 
were still standing where we left them the previous even- 
OUR CAMP NEAR YAM-BULAK-BASHI 
ing, motionless as statues. The top of the mountain was 
shrouded in impenetrable clouds of blinding snow; and to 
have continued the ascent on such a day, and over ice 
probably seamed with crevasses, in the teeth of that 
terrible buran, finally perhaps to lose our bearings in 
those inhospitable regions, would have been to tempt 
providence and court certain destruction. 
I at once realized the folly of setting the mountain at 
defiance. But as I w'anted to see what sort of stuff my 
men were made of, I ordered them to prepare for a start. 
Not one of them uttered a word of grumbling. All rose 
