int we halted for the night, intending to
push on higher in the morning, but two of the Kirghizes were so overcome
with weariness and headaches that they asked to be allowed to go down
again. The others shovelled away the snow and pitched the little tent
within a wall of snow. A fire was kindled and the tea-kettle put on, but
our appetites were poor, as we were suffering from mountain sickness.
The ten yaks stood tethered in the snow outside, and the Kirghizes
curled themselves up in their skin coats like hedgehogs. The full moon
soared like a silvery white balloon just above the top of the mountain,
and I left the tent to enjoy this never-to-be-forgotten spectacle. The
glacier below us lay in shadow in its deep bed, but the snow-fields were
dazzling white. The yaks stood out jet black against the snow, their
nostrils steaming, and the snow crunching under them. Light white clouds
floated rapidly from the mountain under the moon. At last I returned to
the tent. The fire had died down, and the recently melted snow had
frozen into ice. There was a smell of damp and smoke inside, and the men
groaned and complained of headache and singing in the ears. I crawled
under my furs, but could not sleep. The night was quiet, but at times a
dull report was heard when a crevasse was formed in the ice or a boulder
fell from the mountain-side.

When I crawled out from under my furs in the morning, a violent
snowstorm was sweeping along the flanks of the mountain. Through the
dense cloud of whirling snow we could not see our way, and it would have
been death to mount to still higher regions. We might be glad if we
could struggle down again alive in such weather, so down we started
through the drifts, down headlong. We all needed a thorough rest after
this experience.

On another occasion we had a perilous adventure on the rounded ice-cap
of Mus-tagh-ata. We were marching upwards as usual, suspecting no
danger, when the foremost yak, which carried two large bundles of fuel,
suddenly sank through the snow and disappeared. Fortunately he was held
fast by his horns, a hind leg, and the faggots, and there he hung
suspended over a dark yawning chasm. The snow had formed a treacherous
bridge over a large crevasse in the ice, and this bridge gave way under
the weight of the yak. We had all the trouble in the world to haul him
up again with ropes.

A KIRGHIZ GYMKHANA

At the foot of Mus-tagh-ata there is a level and extensive valley, where