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202 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
catch was not very great, and barely sufficed for one meal
all round ; nevertheless, I enjoyed the rest, and found
pleasure in listening to the nor’-wester, which came tumbling
like a roaring cascade over the top of the mountain behind
which we were sheltered. And even the imperturbable
Kutchuk, whom nothing hardly could ruffle, was quite
excited at finding that the fish he caught here were of pre-
cisely the same kind as those he had been accustomed to
catch from his boyhood in the lakes beside the Tarim.
In this pleasant occupation the hours slipped rapidly
past, and it was long after midday when I at last tore myself
away from that charming spot. Just as we turned to go,
it darkened in the west, and the sky filled with black clouds.
Another storm was brewing. Should we wait until it had
gone past, or should we risk it across the broad expanse of
the open lake ? I chose the latter alternative. Kutchuk
had little need to row, for we very soon began to feel the
nor’-wester behind us, and it helped us along splendidly.
The leaden-grey hail-clouds were already trailing their long
fringing draperies across the mountain-sides on the south,
gradually hiding them from sight, and behind us on the
north a similar act of scene-shifting was taking place.
Nearer and nearer came the storm, higher and higher ran
the lake, and all around us the waves were tipped with
white.
" Here we are in the middle of the hail !
" And down
came the big hailstones, splashing the water on every side.
Within a minute the inside of our boat was white. It grew
as dark as twilight when we shot into a hanging cloud of hail.
Not a glimpse of shore or mountain to be seen, nothing but
a small patch of the tossing and tumultuous lake. " Now
for it, Kutchuk ! Look alive, man, we’ve got to fight for
our lives !
" The chief thing was to keep an eye on the
waves, which, under the impulse of the constantly increasing
wind, were being lifted to an unusual height. Fortunately
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