The times., 1898-12-11
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ty in Kashgar, which was not the least
curious OF his many odd experiences. 1t
consisted of forty-six courses of peculiar
Dishes Some of them are enumerated IN
the following paragraph:
II the guests neglected TO help themselves, the
host occasionally sent them portions of the dell
cacies which lined his own dishes-such as the
skin, fms, and cartilage of different varieties OF
fish found in the seas and rivers OF the Chinese
Empire, fungi, salted mutton fat cut into long
strips, lizards (saiamanders), ham with great
variety OF widely different adjuncts, beside
multitude OF strange preparations the real con
sttuents and names of which remained myster.
les to me. The eliminating triumph OF
the feast was smoked ham in molasses, washed
down with tea and Chinese brandy. strong and
boiling hot; The only person who wor-
thily upheld the honor OF Europe was Adam
1gnatieff "a Polish missionary); but he did won
ders, exciting the amazement of the rest OF us
and even the admiration OF the Chinese them
selves With punctilious conscienticusness ne
partook Of every of the forty-six courses, and
with the rosary still round his neck and the
cross on his breast, drank seventeen cups OF
brandy, stuff which TO my throat was as hot and
burning snlphuric acid poured upon IRON
filings. And at the end of the three hours that
the banquet lasted he rose every whit as sober as
when he took his seat at the beginning
DR.. Hedin made three subsequent at
tempts to ascend Mus-tagh-ata, none OF
which was successful, though he says
that he does not consider the task I'M
possible. In the chapter which describes
the fourth attempt he gives picture or
moonlight on the great mountain, which
is one of the best bits of descriptive writ
ing in the book.
The architecture of Nature was conceived here
on bold and masteriul pian-the blue gacier SUNK
between its black walls al rock, shcathed in mail
Of ice and snow-the fiye-hesded mountain giant
towering above the low valleys of the earth. The
rocky wall Immediately in front of me lay in
such deep shadow that could barely distinguish
where its transparent ice mantle ended and the
black mouatain wall began. To the left and a
few hundred yards above me, the outermost parts
OF the glacier bathfd in the moonlight. The
dark crest in the southeast was alive with white
yelled figures. dancing perilous elf-dance Iast
the giddy precipices, the icy surface OF the
glacier, away the northern summit of the
Ice Mountains Father These light clouds.
dancing before the gentle southern breeze, fo-med
in rapid succession coneentric rings, halos, and
the like, in all the colors Of the rainbow. 1t
required great stretch of fancy TO transform
the clouds into any conceivable shapes-ghosts
in white dTaperies chasing each other, dancing
fairies. sportive cgres, procession of the noun
tain King with his sons, the souls OF the depart
ed being led by their white-robed guardian an
gels from earth to happier places. A
dead silence everywhere-not echo from the
opposite wall OF rock. The attenuated ali was
inert; ii needed avalanche to make il vi
brate. The breathing of the yaks was visible,
but not audible The animals stocd silent and
witehinS spell of the night. The clouds fitted
noiseiessly by. The moon seemed to be gazing
down fixedly upon the insignificant mortal who
had had the audacity to DEFY one Of the mountain,
giants of the world. A curious feeling of being
at a vast distance from the earth took posses
sion OF me. 1t was difficult TO realize that the
four continents lay actually below my ieet; and
that girdle drawn round the earth at the level
where / then stood would cut of only the tops
OF a very few mountains in Asia and South
America, realized more ioreibly than ever
, mans ittleness as compared with the inoon-
ceivable magnitude OF creation. ] seemed to lie
standing on the confines Of space-cold, silent,
bouEdess.
DIR. Hedin says of the possibilities of
reaching the top of this mountain:
Our experience demonstrated, the one
hand, that it impossible 10 reach the SIM
nit in one day, the horizontal distance Of which
from the western foot OF the mountain is very
considers able; and on the other hand that it il
not prudent TO sleep at the height Of 20.G00 feet
because night spent at such an altitude i'm
pairs the physical strength and induces feeling
OF laSsitude and depression The best way t6
reach the top. would, without doubt, be TO wait
FOR clear, calm day in the beginning OF July
TO break up camp early IRON a depot situated
15,0o0 feet up. and from there make the ina
ascent in a single day Should any such attempt
be made the yaks ought to be taken a. high as
they can possibly be got, and when they cannot
be got any farther the ascent should he con
tinued ON foot. A bold Alpine climber
Z
! hardy and experienced Swiss guides, would proba
bly, reach a considerable height, and possibly tn,
northern summit itself But even Swiss guide
however well trained, would find himself in quit
an unknown world, for the summit OF the Mus
tagh-ata is directly exposed to the suns rays
and exceeds the highest mountain in Europe b,
fully 1900 feet.
| Although the explorers relations witt
| the natives were usually friendly and al
ways pacific, SO that he encountered nj
! per,ls of persecution. he suffered from
/ hunger, thirst, cold and exhaustion OF
| more than one occasion and the recorc
| of his travels. while it lacks the thrift o
! a Rider Haggard novel, Is not at all mo
notonous. On the sides of Mus-tagh-at. t.
he experienced the discomforts incident t,
severe cold; in the desert he suffered from
/ heat equally severe, and came near be
! ing smothered as well as los. in the mids
] of duststorms Some of his adventures II
I the Takla-Makan read like a page out o
the Arabian Nights. He gives the follow
( ing careful description of a Sandstorm:
Clouds and columns of sand whirled in a ma
dance across the desert, so that now and agai
we became entirely swallowed up in them. But
as they seldom exceeded a dozen feet in height
the zenith retained all the while its fresh blu
color, and the SUMS rays beat down upon Il
with undrninished ferceness. The horizon wa
veiled in an unbroken yellowish-red haze. Tn
nose, ears, even our clothes became impTegnate
with it, so that We experienced disagreeabl
grittiness OF the skin, to which. however, we 500
grew accustomed. Meanwhile. the to
of every dune afforded us an opportunity to oil
serve how the drift-sand stood over like plum
or inverted tassei on the brink that faced III
direction OF the wind; how moment tn
minute grains of sand were whirling round IN
round in a frenzied dance on the windwar
side Of the dime, then the next moment quietl
settled down on the lee side in fine crumple
folds, as though some mighty masterhand We,
weaving them together after tastefully designe
pattern. But when orr heads rose up to the san
level as the sandstorn, which came whistlng b
tween the submits OF the dunes, the effect al
solutely battles description. We shut eyes an
mouths tight; We lowered our heads against II
fierce blast. which shrieked and moaned abol
our ears. But. the whirlwind passed, we stoo
still and literally shook the dust off our clothi
by the pound.
1t was here that, deceived by an aI
pearance of moisture in the sand, Hedi
and his companions spent some piec.ou
time in digging a well, their water tank
being nearly empty. After a time, t
their surprise and horror. the sand be
came dry, and they were obliged to pus
on, almost without water. The camel
were abandoned one by one, and III
water grew less and less. One of the me
stole a part of what remained and de
camped, afterward returning when a
the water was gone and the caravan ha
reached what Hedin calls the Camp c
. Death" There were five In the part,
and two, having become delirious, wer
left behind in the camp, while HEIDI
pushed on with his two remaining TO
! lowers. Islam Bal and Kasm. The fo
) mer gave out soon after. and Hedin wer
on with Kasim. The two had the hal
rowing experience of moving for tin
round and round in circle. having lc.
|, their bearings completely. but they finall