"I have never beheld a more beautiful landscape than the scene before
me.... I am writing this on the banks of Altai Lake.... The balsam
from the cone-like firs along the gorges surcharges the air with an
intoxicating flavor and reflect their inverted gracefulness in the
calm waters of the lake.... The mountains sloping up from either side
are delineated in the mirroring surface and form an archway for the
snow-capped and broken pinnacle that towers above the others like a
sentinel brooding in his frosty and eternal isolation.... Far off in
the distance I can see the black and white walls of the KATUN GLACIER
and know that, throughout this region, gold and silver, as well as
lead and copper, most certainly abound.... In our unending tramp today
I have discovered many evidences of the presence of zinc and nickel
and other minerals lying around.... My 'prisoner' tells me that there
are mines already working in the upper part of the Talovsky River and
that the copper runs very high in the vicinity of Chudak.... Alice
wrote to Princess G---- today at T----.... I am NOT much impressed nor
FAVORABLY by the attitude of these natives in the hills.... They seem
to be a mongrel mixture of Tartar and Mongolian who are always ready,
like the huge ungainly bears we have encountered in our pilgrimage, to
grapple and devour one for the mere pleasure of seeing blood!... Maria
seems quite interested in these notes,--today she insisted on giving
me her impressions of how a NOVEL should be written.... She says that
to make a story interesting it should be all movement from the opening
line to the final wedding bells.... When I told her that I was writing
HISTORY she pouted prettily and remarked: 'I never think of history
without wondering WHO subsidized the writer of the misleading fairy
tale.'
"... This girl has lived close enough to the source of history to know
what PROPAGANDA is.... Still, I like her uncomplaining buoyancy of
spirits in the trial we are going through.... We are headed SOUTH
toward Kuria and Khotan, where arrangements have been made to receive
us by some people who know our secret and will respect the rights of
ASYLUM in a land where oblivion may mean liberty and love!..."
40. There seems to have been quite a skip in the notations of the
diary. Evidently the diarist has become MORE INTERESTED in something
else:
"The fact that we have been on FOREIGN SOIL during the last fifteen
days has considerably relaxed our nerves.... Aside from the rumor
constantly reaching us that the Mongolian mercenaries are in the
employ of the Bolsheviki and offered BIG REWARDS for our capture, we
have not been disturbed in mind or bodies.... Maria asked me today if
I were any relation to CHARLES JAMES FOX, whose oratory she claims
to greatly admire.... When I informed her that I had never met this
gentleman her eyes grew very big....
"'What ARE you?' she inquired. 'Are you an Englishman, or a
Russian,--you CAN NOT BE A GERMAN,--or ARE YOU AN AMERICAN? Oh, I just
hope you ARE an AMERICAN!... When I informed her that my ancestors
fought beside _Kosciusko_ and Pulaski and that their names might
be found on the muster rolls of the First Line Regiment of New York
Colony and State, along with the names of Goose Van Schaick and
Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, she burst her sides with laughter.... 'What a
happy family you must have been!' she rippled. 'When a Fox and a Goose
may dwell in peace and amity together there is nothing that is not
possible for their race!'
"... This quick-witted girl, certainly, BELONGS in the UNITED
STATES--the plains of Eastern Turkestan are NO place for her...."
41. There seems to be another skip in the neglected diary. Evidently
the scenery has lost all its charms.... He merely notes:
"My 'prisoner' seems VERY MUCH interested in my family connections....
He seems jolly enough about it.... BUT I can see that something is
DISTURBING him.... He is very obstinate in little things, lately....
When we get into Cashmere perhaps his mind will be diverted....
He loves the languid charm of scenic beauty nearly as much as
the flattery of his wife.... Anyway, WHAT can I do?... There is a
naturalness about this whole affair that one simply CAN'T get away
from.... Danger has a generous way of bestowing blessings on the
BOLD..."
42. Then we find the following critical entry: "I shall NEVER read
'Lalla Rookh' again!... The Vale of Cashmere may sound fine in poetry
but it FEELS TOUGH beneath one's feet whenever one dismounts.... I
might overlook the rough spots easily enough had not OLGA suddenly
interested herself in my ANCESTRY while she found employment for Maria
with her brother, who seems sadly out of breath.... My 'prisoner' has
forgotten all about me in the absorbing interest he displays in
what he declares to be EARLY MISSIONARY WORK OF JESUS in these very
interesting stretches. It has been no easy matter for me to pilot this
party outside the range of camel caravans and soldiers on their way
from the Punjab Valley toward RAWAL PINDI.... The rattle of our tongas
might be heard at any moment and then our little caravan, disguised
as Buddhists, might spend some time in the GUARDHOUSE at Murree.... We
will not regret the shade and comparative coolness of that pleasant
Summer Resort,--but none of us are longing for any more confinement....
The road from Murree down the valley was gullied by the terrific rain
we have been wading through.... I have never seen a blacker night nor
a heavier rain than we have just come through... We were constantly in
fear of the falling of those gigantic boulders that overhung our path
behind the swishing trees that clung along the precipice.... The zigzag
road that runs down this slope is like a spiral stair in crookedness
and bumps.... We could catch a glimpse now and again of a light from
the little bungalows that clung to the mountain sides.... But we dare
not arouse the dwellers for many obvious reasons.... Finally we did
encounter an abandoned inn or hut where we camped for the night....
Next morning in a fierce and searching sun we rambled into a village
set upon a wonderful defile in the heart of the mountains, where
we ate our frugal meal.... At night we reached the Jhelum coursing
gracefully over rocky beds and through picturesque gorges that rise
into the azure and serene skies of the Himalayan heavens.... It was a
delightful place to camp for the night.... At nine the next morning we
had reached the little hamlet strung along the river bank and known
as Tongua.... Here the girls made a number of purchases and we
replenished our commissary for the march before us into mystic
dominions of the LAMA...."