Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XV.—Seventeen Thousand Feet Above the Sea
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
i7,ooo FEET ABOVE THE SEA. 205
glens. Two big white wolves followed us for a long way,
and Yoldash, who was in a perfect fume at their impudence,
had to be kept tied up, for he would certainly have been
torn to pieces had we let him have his own way. The next
evening we encamped, stiff with cold and half asleep, on
a mountain-slope where a last few wretched blades of grass
were growing.
As soon as the camp was ready—on these excursions we
always slept under a make-shift shelter of felts—Aldat
came to tell me that there was a big yak grazing high up
on the mountain-side, and to request permission to stalk it.
I watched him crawling like a panther along the hollows,
so as to get sufficiently near to his unsuspecting victim.
Thanks to the strong counter-wind, he was able to creep
within thirty paces of the yak and get his weapon raised
upon its fork without being perceived. Aldat fired. The
yak leaped into the air, sending the earth flying all round
him ; then he advanced a few paces, stopped, reeled, tried
to keep his balance, but fell. Raising himself, however,
he repeated these movements several times, before he
finally tumbled head-foremost and remained motionless.
Aldat lay behind his weapon without moving a muscle,
lest he should attract the dying animal’s attention and
draw its vengeance upon himself.
It was a fifteen-year old bull, well-grown and very fat.
Our night-quarters were at an altitude of 16,875 feet above
the sea, and it was trying work to climb up to the yak.
After every few paces we had to stop, our hearts beat so
violently that they were like to burst, and we were nearly
suffocated for want of breath. It was dark before we had
finished our work of cutting out the fat ; but next morning
Aldat went off to the yak at day-break. After that, how-
ever, we heard nothing more of him, so I sent Cherdon up
to see what was become of him. Cherdon found him lying
beside his victim ; he had turned suddenly ill and came
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
