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i7,ooo FEET ABOVE THE SEA. 217
the two men with the rope hauled her along, making her
reel from left to right and from right to left. Whatever
you may think of this method of cure, it at any rate proved
efficacious in this particular case, for the mule completely
recovered, accompanied me in my dash towards Lhasa
(Lassa), was with me in my journey across the whole of
Tibet as far as Ladak, went with me over the Karakorum
Pass and down to Kashgar, and was in first-rate condition
when I finally parted from her in May, 1902.
And now we had to storm once more the fortifications
of the Arka-tagh. Accompanied by Cherdon and Mollah
Shah, I led the way up the pass. The ascent was not
dangerous, but before we reached the summit the sky
clouded, and we became wrapped in darkness, a thing
that was anything but pleasant amidst that world of
mountains. On the summit of the pass we were exposed
to the full fury of the storm, and amid the blinding frenzy
of the snow we felt almost helpless. My hands were frozen
and without feeling, and it was only with the utmost
difficulty that I was able to read the altitude, which
amounted to 1,300 feet higher than the top of Mont Blanc
(15,780). The caravan lingered, and the two men who
were with me went back to help them up. And there was
I left alone on that sharp mountain crest, which jutted
out like a spring-board at a giddy height into the vast
immensity of space. I crept as far as I could into my
skin-coat and turned my back to the storm, while the
snow whirled about my ears in big, smothering flakes.
At length I heard the caravan-bells close at hand. The
animals glided past like spectres, I heard not a footstep.
At the head marched Turdu Bai, leaning far forward,
with one arm raised to protect his face and walking with
effort, as if he were working his way through the under-
woods. A ’moment’s rest to catch their breath! At
their feet yawned the abyss like a bottomless pit, full of
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