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58 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
Before we had gone very far we perceived a third troop
of mounted men awaiting our arrival on a projecting
headland. It was the Bek of Avvat himself come to bid
us welcome to the region he ruled over. In this way the
members of our mounted escort were gradually increased,
and fresh horsemen kept appearing above the thickets. The
forest, recently so silent, now echoed with lively conver-
sation, the riders eagerly discussing the object of our
strange journey. Our ferry-boat in particular was the
object of their keenest attention.
In the red rays of the setting sun our double procession
made, I am sure, a very striking object. On the after-deck
Islam was pouring out tea to the Beks, who kneeled in
their gay holiday attire around the fire, looking both
important and anxious, although the current was quite
moderate. I was, as usual, tied to my writing-table, for
for no ceremonies in the world would I have allowed a
blank to appear in my map of the river. On the banks
the dust rose in clouds from the thud, thud of the horses’
hoofs on the hard ground. Never before had such a
spectacle been seen beside the muddy waters of the
Yarkand-daria. Eight falconers, mounted on active little
ponies, were conspicuous in the company ; two of them
carried royal eagles, the others hunting-hawks. The
fierce eyes of the birds were hidden under a hood, and
their talons were tightly clasped about the thick skin
gloves of their bearers. These wonderful, but blood-
thirsty, birds of prey are indispensable on all ceremonious
occasions in that part of the world. Later in the day
they gave me proofs of their skill, and their prey, four
hares and a deer, were handed over to my cook, Islam Bai.
To see a hawk attack a hare, a pigeon, or a pheasant once
is quite sufficient. You admire, you are amazed at, the
precision, the swiftness, the strength developed by their
elastic, and yet so fragile, wings. Like a knife their sharp
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