The sun., 1903-12-13

.pcstkeaeer :. Dr:-Ifeiin xas Informed that
every. year great number Of kulan foals
perish because during the first few
days Of their existence they are un-
| able to accompany their mother on the
| approach OF danger. When thus deserted
| they die Of hunger or are torn to pieces
by the wolves. On one occasion our
traveller captured couple OF foals. but
| they soon pined away. Though they lead
monotonous lives in the heart OF Asia, re-
mote from the great caravan roads and
! isolated from other races, the lopliks,
or inhabitants Of the Lop-nor region,
are not without their love poetry. DR..
Hedin has preserved and translated some
OF their ditties. The songs indicate the
narrow limitations OF their world OF thought
| and knowledge. Here Is song which
certainly is more than a hundred years old.
The singer is woman whose love has been
despised. The spirits have created thee
more beautiful than other men. When
thou didst return to thy home l would
have flown after thee like wild goose, and
have screamed as the wild goose screams.
Thou knewest not that waited for thee
the whole space of one year, and whilst
was waiting loved not any other man.
- Since thou wilt not have me
for thy wife, behold! l will come and be
| thy servant. and will serve thee as may.
For the space Of a full year have not smiled
for thy sake, for thou hast spoken untruth.
have had no Joy Of thee. My tears have
howed.llke river. 1t is Gods will that we
should not be united. Oh. how beautiful
are thy eyes and the long lashes and the
arched brows which shield them-none more
beautiful"
In 1902 our traveller rode tame yak
from Leh to Kara-korum. A yak caravan
Is not an infrequeht spectacle in the country
west of China. The animals march in
military order, and in divisions OF thirty
or forty each. They travel slowly, with
short, pottering steps, but keep rank with
out giving much trouble to the two or three
men who have charge Of each detachment.
If yak chance to stray from the ranks,
one Of the drivers will stret oh out his arms
toward it and whistle shrilly, whereupon
the beast will at once return to his place.
When we consider the strength Of a yak,
the loads placed upon them seem light.
The wild yak is described as a magnificent
animal It seems that this creature is ad-
mirably adapted for walking on the ice,
being marvellously sure footed. 1t may
alp, but never loses its foothold.
part Of the route pursued by DR.. Hedin
across the desert of Cow had been pre-
viously traversed by NJ. Kozlon and M.
Bonin, and. possibly also by Marco Polo.
Concerning one section, however, which
he undertook to cross. we possess absolutely
no knowledge from either European or
Asiatic sources On the Sth OF February,
1901, he began long and extremely ven-
t,,ro t,,,r tou ~ hn ~
ing with him sufficient ice to last men and
horses for ten days. The camels drank
az much as they could hold at we'll before
starting. 1We now bent our steps," he
says, through the dry yellow reeds which
rustled and snapped in the intense cold
tsome II degrees below zero OF Fahren-
heitl The tracks of wild camels and ante
lopes ran in endless number in every !di-
rection: hut there were no signs of kulans
lwild assesl All Of sudden the vegetation
came to an end amid labyrinth Of clay
mounds, each crowned with q dead tam
arisk." Thenceforward, through an un-
speakably desolate country. totally devoid
Of water and, cCIsoque ntly, of vegetation.
the travellers pushed on until Feb. 10, by
which time the ice. which had been car
ried for the consumption of the men and
horses had vanished. .-t...
Twelve days had passed since the camels
had touched adrop Of water. The situation
was very serious. II water could not be
found, the cames would drop and die. one
after the other, as they had in previous
march Of the explorers through the Takla-
makan Desert. DR.. Hedin tells us that.
driving ahead for dear life, soon left the
caravan long way behind. My native
made boots barely held together after the
1870 miles tramped, and my feet were sore
and biistered. had made up my mind
that would not stop unit did find water.
At last reached low ridge which forced
me to turn to the southwest, and in the dry
water course which skirted 1t counted the
footprints of no fewer than thirty wild
camels which had passed quite recently.
A little hit further, and observed a tam
arisk. then the tracks of hares and ante
lopes. / stopped. These animals were not
wont to travel a tremendous distance from
water" Following the tracks of a troop
of camels, our traveller finally came upon
broad glen. within which glistened white
patch Of ice. The caravan was saved
The spring itself was. as is usual in that
region. salt; but the sheet of ice, which
was not more than dozen yards across
nor more than four inches thick. was per-
fectly fresh. The ice sheet small as it was
supplied the wants OF the caravan, and,
when the travellers started again on the
22d of February, they took several sackfuls
OF ice with them. Not long afterward.
they reached an oasis. and the rest of their
journey through the Desert of Govi was
uneventful.
! ".
From Charkhlik on the 18th Of May,
1901, the author OF these volumes began
the attempt. to CROSS Tibet from north to
south, Which was to occupy twevemonth.
Great precautions were taken by the travel
lers to conceal their purpose from the men,
bers of a Mongol caravan that was on its
way to Lassa, but as the event proved, they
we're ineffective, and arrangements were
made by the Tibetan authorities to defeat
the execution Of their programme 1t
became known at Lassa that "Shved
Peling,' that is Swedish European"
was on the way thither, and measures were
taken to arrest him. Before he was stopped
however, DR.. Hedin had reached a point