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178 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
duals, who arranged themselves in a line on the top of a
lofty dune. I had to stop and for a time watch the truly
magnificent spectacle through my glass. The yaks made
an extraordinary picture, their black hides standing out
sharply cut against the yellow sand, while their heads were
lifted as if they smelt danger. We could almost see the
enjoyment with which they sniffed the refreshing rain that
was pattering on the hillsides.
A little bit farther on Cherdon caught sight of a solitary
wolf-cub, which he rode down, and caught, and bound, and
brought with him to our camp beside the lake. The little
brute bit fiercely, and made no end of a to-do, trying every
art and device it was master of to escape. And although
the Mussulmans, who could not forget the sheep which had
been torn to pieces, tied him up as they thought securely,
the cunning beast managed to get the better of them, for
during the night he bit the rope through and ran off with
the noose round his neck. My men hoped that, as he grew,
the rope would choke him ; but I thought it more likely
that the cub’s mother would gnaw it to pieces and so set
him free.
During the next two weeks we crossed over the
biggest and highest mountain range, that is so far as the
general level of the crest is concerned, not only of Asia, but
of the whole world—that is to say, the Arka-tagh. The
main pass reached an altitude of 17,000 feet above the sea,
or more than 1,200 feet higher than the top of Mont Blanc.
Then for nearly two months we remained constantly at an
altitude considerably above that of the highest mountain-
peak in Europe. Need I say that travelling in such regions
is attended with a certain amount of difficulty. Sometimes
we would travel for several days together without finding
a blade or a twig for the animals to eat, and when we did
at length find any, it was so thin and hard that they were
unable to satisfy their hunger upon it. Our animals, there-
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