53 ° 
THROUGH ASIA 
with fresh vigour, the men crying, “ Khoda kalesa” 
(God grant it!), " Inshallah" (With God’s will!), and 
Bismillah” (In God’s name!). But after advancing a 
little way, a fresh ridge would face us, and fresh crests 
tower up ahead as far as the eye could reach. 
On the top of a commanding dune we made a long halt, 
for the purpose of reconnoitring, and of quenching our 
thirst. Occasionally poor Yolldash and the sheep, which 
were dying of thirst, were given their fill. Yolldash was 
wild the moment he heard the sound of water. Every 
time anybody went to the water-tank, he came running 
up, wagging his tail. The last survivor of the sheep 
followed us with the patience and fidelity of a dog. The 
men grew so fond of the creature, that they said, they 
would sooner perish of hunger than kill it. 
But the camels were visibly tiring. Heavy falls grew 
more and more frequent. When they fell on a steep 
incline, they were unable to get up without help. One 
of the beasts, which came down near the summit of a 
ridge, we were obliged to free entirely from his burden, 
saddle and all ; and then, all putting our shoulders to 
him, we rolled him seventy feet down the slope into a 
hollow between two sand-dunes. It was only then that 
he was able to recover his feet. 
After going eight miles, we had had enough of it for 
that day ; and camped on a small patch of bare ground, 
so hard that we did not even attempt to dig a well. 
Every trace of organic life had now absolutely ceased. 
No moths came fluttering round my candle at night. Not 
a single yellow leaf came dancing down the wind to 
break the dead uniformity. As soon as our duties were 
finished, we sat down and discussed the doings of the 
day, and what should be done on the morrow. It was 
truly touching to hear Islam Bai doing his best to keep 
up the courage of the others. He told them about our 
former journeys, about the masses of snow we encountered 
in the Alai valley, “which were much worse than the 
sand,” about the glaciers of Mus-tagh-ata, and our several 
ascents of the great mountain. 
