898 
THROUGH ASIA 
twenty Cossacks armed to the teeth, and long strings of 
camels, and a multitude of strange things. I therefore 
was a puzzle to them ; for I was come quite alone, without 
followers, without a caravan, in a canoe, accompanied by 
two of their own people, speaking their own language, 
eating the food they ate, and almost as poor as themselves. 
Their preconceived idea of a European was thus sadly 
upset. The difference between a European and a Lop- 
man was really not so very great after all. On April 1 2th 
the storm was so bad that we could not go out. But the 
next day it abated a little, and we again embarked in the 
canoe. When their craft are not in use, the Lop-men 
draw them up on land, and pour water over them at 
intervals to prevent them from cracking. Even then a 
canoe seldom lasts more than ten years. 
We started before sunrise, and had a glorious journey, 
partly over the open lake, partly through the reed-beds. 
The greatest depths in the latter portions of the lake were 
ii|^ and i 5 -| feet. But at noon the storm freshened up to 
its previous unbridled fury, so that the rest of our day’s 
journey was not without peril. The lakes were connected 
together by narrow straits or sounds ; and the entrances to 
these we could only make by crossing wide open bays. 
H ow the men found their way was a perfect marvel to 
me. The shores of the lakes were extremely irregular, by 
reason of the great number of creeks, peninsulas, and 
islands which diversified them ; and the entrances to the 
sounds were not perceptible until we were actually in them. 
To add to the difficulty of finding the way, the loose sand 
was blown in clouds off the tops of the sand-dunes on the 
east side of the lakes, shrouding the shores in a dense haze, 
and covering the lakes with a yellow veil of dust. The 
water was in a state of violent commotion. The waves 
seethed round the canoe, and the spray flew in gusty 
splashes from the summit of every wave, soaking us to the 
skin. We had to keep a very sharp look-out. We even 
went so far as to take off some superfluous clothing, that 
we might swim the more easily, if it should be needful to 
do so. In fact, we actually had to balance the canoes with 
