The men wanted us to give Sulloo some medicine which would make him insensible, so that they might then sew up a portion of his face. This we did not feel inclined to do, as we did not know the proper amount of laudanum to dose him with, and an attempt at sewing up his face on the top of this would probably have done for the man. He had, undoubtedly, gained some strength, for he was able to keep up with the caravan on his pony.
Another snowstorm coming from the north, that blew through the night, made the ground in heavy condition, so that we had to make a late march. We passed through a sandy, stony country, with low ranges of hills on either hand, and further off another large range running as usual almost east and west. Our difficulties throughout the day were increased by the scarcity of water.
On the 4th of July we found ourselves marching down a fine grassy nullah, with several others running into it from the north and south, and we could not help thinking that we had struck a nullah of some importance, that perhaps it would eventually lead to the source of some river. About a foot below the surface we could always get as much water as we wanted and of a very fair quality. It was a happy event to have some means of raising hopes of finding people in the men's minds again. They were becoming lazier and inclined to be insolent, and any kindness or consideration we showed them was looked upon as so much weakness on our part. Our only way of getting any real work out of them was by behaving towards them with sternness and severity, and showing a pretty sharp temper, much as we disliked doing it. Towards evening the aspect of the country underwent a change. Although there were still grassy valleys, several of them and the intervening country were adorned by curiously-shaped hills of sandstone.
Far away, some thirty or forty miles, in an east-north-east direction, we saw a fine snow mountain range and peaks, and decided to steer for the south side of them. On climbing a hill it was obvious that the nullah we were in ran straight away towards these mountains. This was certainly encouraging. There would be no more trouble in having to find a way, and there would be no anxiety about our water and grass supply. The chances, too, were that we should pick up a better supply of wild game droppings for our fires, instead of having to dig up so much boortsa each day, and on some occasions we had hardly been able to collect enough to make a fire at all. We argued, with regard to the range we should come to, that if there were grass, streams from the snow, and shelter from the hills, why should not there be wandering inhabitants of the place?
Some time back a muleteer, Ghulam Russul, had taken the post of headman in place of Tokhta, degraded for incapacity. Ghulam Russul had been on a previous trip with the Littledales, and knew the likely sort of country where nomads love to dwell in. We had been warned against this man by the Wazir of Leh, but then we considered him the most suitable, out of a poor lot of men, for the post of head muleteer. The sight of this range added to Ghulam Russul's opinion that people might be living there, and the knowledge that we must be somewhere near Barkhalu, if there were such a place, induced us to make the following plan. We arranged to send Esau and Mahomed Rahim south, and Ghulam Russul with Shukr Ali north, each man with enough rations to last for two days; this we were able to do, for fortunately an antelope had just lately been shot. We furnished them with the simple instructions to find people, get assistance in the shape of some baggage animals, and return again into camp a little lower down, but in the same nullah we were in. We agreed that we might just as well not lose an opportunity of making a few more miles, by marching the first day without these four men. Before, therefore, these two exploring parties sallied forth, they helped to load up. We thought we could manage to drive them by ourselves for one day, seeing that the way was clear, although our numbers would be very small. Of a truth, when these four men went off, there only remained, besides Malcolm and myself, Lassoo and another man, called Usman, to look after the caravan. This is really not enough, for one man must lead the way in front; whenever, too, a load during the march falls over to one side, the mule must at once be reloaded, to prevent any chafing from a badly-balanced burden. While this is occupying the attention of two or three men, the rest of the mules will stray in any direction, unless there are some more men present to keep them together. Sulloo, as usual, would come along behind, with one Juma to look after him, whose special employment was as cook for the rest of the men. Shahzad Mir, of course, would have to attend to his plane-table work. Usman was a tall, black, powerful fellow, but not fond of work; when Shahzad Mir's pony died he was generally told off to carry the plane-table. This duty suited him admirably, for he could put in many a snooze throughout the day on the top of various hills. He used to say he had travelled before, with a Russian through Turkistan. As for Tokhta, who had swollen to a tremendous size, resembling a large, over-ripe gooseberry, or rotten apple, he had been sent out in the very early morning to look after the ponies, for he was equal to no other greater exertion, but when it came to the hour of starting there was no Tokhta present, nor could we discover what on earth had become of him. In the end, we moved off without him, knowing that when he awoke, for he was probably slumbering peacefully in a sheltered nook, he would find it no hard job to track us down the nullah we were going along; besides, we intended halting all that afternoon and the whole of the following day. Tokhta was a regular drain upon us, for, although he had made up his mind that he was unfit to do any more work, still he had to have his share of the rations, much to the disgust of his brother muleteers, who under such circumstances soon lost all affection for one another, and had no scruples about letting a man starve as long as it suited their own ends. Having loaded the animals, we all started off together, the men who had been selected to the north and south, and we ourselves down the nullah.
About 9 o'clock we decided to halt, as already one of the mules had collapsed half a mile back. After unloading, we first of all dug a number of water holes, so as to have an abundant supply for all. We next found out that some of the animals required re-shoeing. We had leisure to see to all things. Our little camp table had come to ruin, or rather its legs had, but their place was taken by a couple of yakdans, which served us equally well. Our two camp chairs were still holding out; the most durable one that can be had in India is from the Government workshops at Roorkee. Most other chairs generally last for two or three weeks, when they require nailing and binding up, only to give way again shortly afterwards. Even at this early stage of our journey, when we were buoyed up with the empty hopes of our men finding signs of people and of Barkhalu, and of bringing in yak, ponies, and provisions, we began to anticipate the pleasures of our voyage across a portion of China, down the Yellow River from Lancheo to Pao T'eo. With so many men, we argued that this would be quite the best way of getting through China, as well as an inexpensive way, for we could pack the whole of them on one boat, and ourselves on another; or, better still, perhaps one boat would hold both the men and ourselves. Leisure and a clear night enabled us to take latitudes again from north and south stars, showing us to be about 35 degrees, 20 minutes.
During the afternoon of the following day Ghulam Russul and Shukr Ali turned up, without any news whatever of people. They told us how, after climbing a range of hills, they had been able to see an immense distance, but that there was nothing more than a continuation of grassy plains without any water; this, too, with the help of field-glasses we had provided them with. As Esau and Mahomed Rahim had not turned up by sunset, we began to entertain hopes that they had really found people, and that their delay was caused by bargaining and persuading them to come to us. Tokhta, too, had not turned up, and must have been having a splendid sleep. It was blowing hard with sleet the next morning, and this, combined with Esau's absence, kept us imprisoned in our tent.
CHAPTER X.
I SHOOT A YAK—DEATH OF ANOTHER MULE—"HELMET HILL"— WE LEAVE TOKHTA AND SULLOO BEHIND—REDUCED TO TWELVE ANIMALS—A MULE'S ADVENTURE.
About 8 o'clock all these excuses for repose came to an end, for the sun began to shine, and with it Esau returned, bringing Tokhta, whom, as we had rightly surmised, he had found snoozing peacefully in a nullah. We could not help feeling somewhat disappointed at the sleeper's return, for the chief reason that the food he ate was like having so much wasted. Nevertheless, had he not come in, we had arranged to send back a search party for him. Esau had been equally unsuccessful in his wanderings, and the only excuse for his absence he could offer, was that he could not get back sooner!