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112 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
should all sleep on the bank of that river. Nor was I mis-
taken ; for before long I perceived from the top of a lofty
dune a dark line on the southern horizon. It was the forest-
belt beside the Cherchen-daria. After threading a laby-
rinth of tamarisks and poplars, we at length reached the
goal of our desires, the Cherchen-daria. It was then, how-
ever, thickly sheeted with ice. My men were amazed that
I was able to calculate the distance so exactly. They
hardly knew what to make of it ; I suspect they imagined
that some time or other I had tramped across that trackless
region alone. At all events, they declared that they were
now ready to follow me without a moment’s hesitation or
fear wherever I might choose to lead them.
From Cherchen I then made a reconnaissance westwards
of close upon 200 miles, accompanied by four mounted men.
It was a bitterly cold ride in a violent wind and whirling
snowstorms, and at night we slept under the open sky. I
can almost hear still the monotonous thud, thud of the
horses’ hoofs as thej’ struck the frozen ground. We were
unable to ride longer than half-an-hour at once, and then
had to get off and run to keep from freezing. Every time
we found fuel we stopped and made a little fire, and after
thawing ourselves pushed on again ; and in this fashion
we made our way from fire to fire, as though we were
gaining ground inch by inch against our enemy, the biting
cold. In the saddle we sat leaning forwards, doubled up
in a heap, with our arms crossed, and let the horses take
their own way. The last 24 hours on the return journey
were the very worst of all. During the night the ther-
mometer dropped to 25° Fahr. below zero. We made
a more than ordinarily long stage, keeping on several
hours after dark, and then it once more turned bitterly
cold ; the wind, too, was against us, and though not very
strong, it was nevertheless quite enough to make us freeze
in the saddle. I tried to protect my face with a comforter,
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