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46 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
the sail and could fill my pipe comfortably between the
compass observations. The lake formed a beautiful open
sheet of water, with reeds nodding all round it. A flock
of 14 snow-white swans got up from time to time in front
of us, and after flying on a little way ahead, dropped into
the water again with a noisy splash.
My little skiff behaved beautifully, skimming gracefully
and easily over the crystal surface, gently rippled by the
wind. After a four hours’ sail we approached the end
of the Sorun-kol. It is connected by a narrow channel
with its sister-lake to the south, the Chol-kol, which means
the Desert Lake—a significant name, for on its southern
shore the sand-dunes are piled up mountain-high. The
connecting channel between the two lakes, only six to ten
feet broad, was bordered by reeds, extraordinarily dense
and tall. Their yellow plumes met overhead, so that for
considerable distances we seemed to be traversing a dim-
lit watery tunnel.
Entering the mouth of the reedy tunnel before a crisp
breeze, our little craft swept like a swan along the picturesque
water-way, the reeds either bending complaisantly under
her keel or rustling sideways out of her path. After a
while the channel widened out, and in the expansion were
hundreds of wild-duck. They must have known that Islam
had forgotten to bring his gun with him, or else they took
our little skiff for some unknown, but peaceful, member
of their own species, for they were not the least bit disturbed.
It was only when we got quite close to them that they took
wing ; but so great were their numbers that the water
was white with froth after they rose. Yet they soon settled
again, and began to dive and swim and chatter to their
heart’s content.
Our dim-lit water-way soon began to lighten. We
caught a glimpse of the southern shore of the next lake,
as straight as if it had been drawn with a ruler, so great
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