The Washington times., 1913-07-28
OSCAR 7. CROSBY
DARING EXPLORER
Former Washington Society and Cbman, Now Mentioned for
Governor General of Philippines, Has Had Many Interest
ing Adventures in Far Away Lands.

determine our position. had the vagu-
est idea only of where We were and OF
the direction in which was Rudak. The
cold was excruciatlng. For more than
fifty days on the trip We were not able
to change our clothes or to remove even
the least garment Of the envelope of
sheepskin in which we were clad. Be
fore that I had no conception OF how
very dirty II Is possible for a man to
become.
There was practically no fuel. AS
our horses died from cold and exposure.
we used the straw with which the pack
saddles were stuffed. and occasionally
We would find patches OF some mount
ain herb. with thick hbrous roots. With
such makeshifts we found it possible
to boil water for our tea and to heat
the cans of timed meat. That was all (;
there was nothing even approaching a
fire about which we might have warmed
ourselves"
Where we were the AksIa Chin was
traver5ed by two mountain ranges and
we were making our way down the val
ley In an effort to reach either Rudak or
a place on the map called Lanak, which
one Of our men had visited once before.
This fellow said he thought he could rec
ognize certain peaks that pointed the
way and at his instance we plunged into
the labyrinth Of mountains, many of the
passes $4,000 feet and more above the
level of the sea.
Finally our new guide had to con-
fess that he had no idea where we
had thought he remembered vanished
with our closer approach and he was at
sea
"At that time six of our sixteen
horses were dead and all the rest were
weakened. To add to our difficulties
fully with sciatica and could scarcely
move. It was, indeed, only by the most
heroic efforts that he managed to get
along at all. We threw away a portion
of our belongings, everything, In fact.
we could possibly spare and pressed
on, determined to make one more effort,
as united caravan, to reach Rudak
or Lanak.
When Hope Had Fled.
The effort was In vain, for at the
end of two days we found ourselves in
a worse condition than ever. I stopped
the caravan with only a Sushel Of
grain left, and but two horses able to
travel. We pitched our little tent, and
sent the two best men, with the two
horses and the bushel Of grain, in
search Of help. Then we sat down to
wait.
The suspense Of that waiting was ter
rfble. Anginieur's sufferings were in
tense, and our provisions were grad
ually giving out. He and divided each
day a can of sardines and another OF
some Russian timed goods we had with
US. 1t was never possible to say. with
out opening them, what these latter con-
tanned. 1 shall never forget the CHASTITY
humor that overcame me when 1 opened
one can and found-cabbage.
Eleven days had passed and We had
about abandoned hope. The provisions
would last only four or five days longer,
even with the greatest economy consist
ent with the preservation of life. For
myself had determined to end 1t all
with my revolver, and / am convinced
Anginieur. shared my intention. We
thought the end had come. For thirty
days we had seen no human being save
the members of our own party. We
were almost certain the men we had
sent out had succumbed to cold and
starvation and were dead.
Day of Rescue
Then came the day Of our rescue.
BY a miracle of good luck the men, after
travelling $50 miles, had found a band
of wandering Kirghiz, the nomads OF
band hurried back to our assistance.
lney came Win cdlneS ana a sneep ana
other things for our comfort. i never
met a more kindly and hospitable peo-
pie: never met men or women 1 was
more glad to see.
We'll. that was the end of our des-
perate straits, though not of our perils
and hardships. There were mountains
still to climb, some of them more diff
ficult than any we had seen in the past,
and great wastes of a barren country
still to traverse. But we never thought
Of our hardships. so great was our
thankfulness and relief. We finally
reached the known country, and brought
up at Ladak, formerly the capital Of
Western Tibet, but now under the do
minion of the Maharajah of Kashmir.
From Ladak we crossed over the
Himalayas to Rawal Pindi, where We
struck the railway, five months after
iian in Rnssian Turlsastan