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!
We all moved off, once more reunited, down the nullah, soon after 9
o'clock, and as I went ahead to feel the way, I came to a spot where
the nullah bifurcated. Here was actual running water, and at the point
of separation was a hill on which grew fine green grass, and running
half-way up it were two long lines of white stones, piled up in small
heaps of three, showing me that at some time or other people must have
been there.
Whilst reconnoitring the surrounding country from the top of the hill,
I spotted in a valley about two miles away a single yak grazing. Seeing
by the lay of the land that the caravan would have no difficulty in
finding their way, on arrival at this spot I went off on a little stalk,
taking Ruby with me. I had to cross a broad expanse of sand, where some
antelopes had come to drink, before reaching the grass land where the
yak was feeding. After cautiously crawling up to a crest from where I
had calculated I should be quite near enough to the yak to shoot him,
to my dismay there was no sign of the animal, but as I had not seen
him make off, I concluded he must have moved on over some other crest,
which now hid him from my view, during the time of my stalk when he
was out of my sight. This proved to be the case, but it was only after
crossing several crests that I at length found him fast asleep in a
dip of the ground. Creeping up silently on tiptoe to within 100 yards,
I woke him up rather harshly by placing a ·303 Jeffery bullet into
a fatal part, and as he rose to learn the cause, I knocked him over
with a second bullet, much to little Ruby's unbounded delight, who was
soon scampering, snapping, and barking around the dying body, worrying
as only terriers can. To cut the flesh off a dead yak is no slight
undertaking, so I retraced my steps to get assistance from some of the
men, but, on reaching the hill, there was no sign of them. I climbed to
the top again, and found they had marched down the left branch of the
nullah, so soon made tracks for them. After about a mile tramp, I came
upon Mahomed Rahim and Shukr Ali asleep, and by their side a little
black mule on the point of dying. Seeing they were doing no good, for
the mule was too far gone, I sent them on to catch up the other men and
bring back another mule, so that they could go to the dead yak and fetch
in some meat for Malcolm and myself, and for themselves too, if they
cared to eat it, in spite of it not having been hallaled. The death of
another mule had now reduced us to fifteen.
The next day we still followed the same nullah, which became so soft
and so full of water that we suddenly found ourselves bogged, and had
no small trouble in extricating the animals and baggage out of such a
mess on to the left bank, which was nearest to the catastrophe. Despite
our misfortune, we could not help thinking that so much water must
surely lead to a fresh-water lake, and to more favourable country. Very
great, then, was our disappointment on climbing to the higher ground
to find the land was absolutely barren and desolate, and what was more
disheartening still, after going a few more miles, to learn that this
water ran into a lake so salt that even the mules refused to drink it.
All around was an arid, stony desert; not a blade of grass, no droppings
nor roots wherewith to make a fire.
[Illustration: WE CAMP IN A WILDERNESS AND STEER FOR "HELMET HILL."]
In the direction we intended going we could see a distant hill in the
shape of a helmet with a spike in it, so we christened the curious
eminence "Helmet Hill." As we moved off towards this landmark we agreed
that few things are more detestable than having to march along the
borders of a salt lake, where the surroundings are absolutely barren
and lifeless; such land as this always seems to have a depressing effect
on men and beasts, and one wonders why there are such places. At night
we most luckily found some fresh water below the surface, in a sandy
nullah, and in a small valley close by grew some boortsa. This food the
animals generally preferred to grass, and there is no doubt that in this
coarse kind of short heather there is a deal of moisture and sustaining
power. As long as the mules could get plenty of boortsa, they wanted
but little water.
Such adverse and inauspicious times as these made their mark on our men,
who lost heart and became lazier. We consequently made a later start
from the sandy nullah than we should have done, and on coming to the end
of the lake, the sun being hot, we called a halt where we fancied we
should get water by digging. In this expectation we were unfortunate,
much to the annoyance of our muleteers, and to make them feel that the
misfortune was brought about by themselves, we explained to them that
had they only risen and marched earlier we should by this time have
been some miles further on, and reached a place where water could be
obtained.
At this waterless camp we had to shoot a big, grey mule, who could
not possibly have done another march. He had carried a load for many
days, and we felt his loss severely. This death reduced us to fourteen
animals, including the one that was kept spare for carrying Shahzad
Mir's plane-table.
We felt we must come to a standstill unless people came across our path
before long. As the country was so barren and desolate, we wanted to
cover as much ground as possible that same afternoon. I went on ahead,
and so bare was the aspect that it looked as though we should never see
any water or green again; everywhere the ground was incrustated with
salt; all the nullahs were white with it, and to all appearance we were
leaving bad for worse.
At sunset, after which time it would have been impossible to proceed and
when most had given up hope, we came to a nullah running down from the
north, and to the surprise and delight of all we found good water a few
feet below the surface, and a small quantity of boortsa on the adjacent
hills. A strong north wind blew hard during the night, which made us
wonder how our tent ever withstood the tension. Two or three miles
further on from this place, we came to the bed of a salt lake partially
dried up. Here again misfortune overtook us, for some of the animals got
bogged, and nothing but an absolute desolation of salt land still loomed
ahead of us. The going became so heavy that poor Sulloo on his pony,
being unable to keep up, was left miles behind. It is impossible to
picture such a barren land as we were in, and it seemed as though there
would never be an end to it as long as we pursued our eastern course.
We therefore struck a more northerly one, and after eventually getting
beyond the salt belt marched east again. In some places we noticed
a large amount of yellow soil and in others of bright red. In spite
of our manœuvre we came to another dried salt lake, a disheartening
obstruction, and when our doubled exertions seemed to be hopeless and
our trials at their worst, we saw through our glasses, some considerable
way off, a small patch of grass on a bit of rising ground. We were at
once inspired with new life and marched straight for this harbour. The
grass we reached grew at the foot of a nullah that led over an easy
pass, so we allowed the mules to enjoy a few minutes' grazing before
commencing the ascent. This grass was quite green, and the joy of the
animals at meeting with such food was clearly manifest by the avaricious
way in which they tore it off, and the marvellously quick way in which
they ate it. Later on we came to a broad, sandy nullah, with abundance
of good water just below the surface. The nullah, too, was itself well
sheltered from the cold winds by the higher ground on all sides, where
splendid grass was sprouting. Antelope had made no mistake in choosing
this as one of their haunts to wander into. In order to counteract the
results due to such depressing and demoralizing country as we had just
passed through, and as Sulloo and Tokhta were still in the rear, we
determined to make the most of our opportunity and halt for half of the
following day.
[Illustration: MALCOLM AT BREAKFAST WITH ESAU.]
This was now the 10th of July and we had reached Camp 51. We were
well repaid for our decision, for the following morning was perfectly
glorious—not a cloud, not a breath of wind was there to mar the quietude
that man and beast at this time so much needed. To commemorate the
occasion, I photographed Malcolm enjoying his breakfast just outside the
tent, with Esau standing by the other side of the table, holding in his
hand a dish of luxuries!
About midday, Tokhta, Sulloo, and the pony walked slowly into camp. They
persisted that nothing on earth would induce them to travel onwards
another step; poor fellows, they had reached what seemed to them a
perfect haven of rest; they must have felt thoroughly worn out, for
all they wanted to do was to remain where they were and quietly die. It
was quite certain that it would have been madness for us to remain with
them, for only a few more days' rations remained, and our only chance of
getting through the country at all lay in our coming across nomads from
whom by hook or crook we could get supplies. We did think of leaving
some men behind, while a small party marched on as fast as possible with
light loads in search of people, but these men did not relish being
left, and supposing there were no people to find, our situation would
have been still more critical. We ended our problem by leaving the two
sick men with a pony and a supply of food and drinking utensils, etc.,
so that if they felt inclined they might follow after, for they would
have found no difficulty in tracking us. We buoyed them up, too, with
the hopes we entertained of shortly finding people, when we would at
once send back assistance to them. We also endeavoured to persuade them
to make an effort in reaching a fresh camp each day, by marching and
halting according to their inclination, for we told them we should only
make short marches, and at each camp we would leave a supply of food
for them and some grain for the pony. It was a sad thing having to leave
these men and the pony as we did, and when we halted for the night and
the sun began to set calmly over these vast solitudes, there was no sign
of their coming, look back as we might to the far-off hills for some
tiny, distant, yet moving, speck. The darkness of night soon gathered
around, and we could only wonder how close they might be to us. The next
day we saw new life, for Malcolm had a shot at a wild dog, while I saw
two eagles; such sights as these at once set our imagination at work,
for we argued as to how could these creatures exist unless people were
living somewhere close. At the same time it brought encouragement to
all.
Towards evening, after making two short marches during the day, we
camped south of the snow range we had been steering for, but there were
no signs to tell us that the three abandoned ones were following. More
food and grain was left here, and we moved off soon after 4 A.M. It is,
as some will know, chilly work sallying forth before sunrise when the
minimum registers over twenty degrees of frost; and as one tramps along,
marching only two miles an hour with the animals, one eagerly watches
for the first tip of the sun to appear, meanwhile warming the hands
alternately inside the coat, for we always made a point of carrying a
rifle each.
It was my turn to go on ahead to-day, and after a brisk walk of five
miles I came upon a most inviting spot. There were two tiny fresh-water
lakes, surrounded by grassy hills, with the snow peaks on the northern
side feeding the hills below with a daily supply of water. Fearing
disappointment in that the water might be salt, I hastened on to the
two pools, and, as I expected, they were fresh, so I hurried back to
climb some rising ground, from whence the caravan would be in sight and
earshot. There the firing off of my gun announced to them, according to
previous arrangement, that water and grass had been found.
[Illustration: WE CAMP BY TWO FRESH-WATER POOLS.]
Whilst enjoying our midday halt a couple of antelopes and sand-grouse
came to drink, and fell victims to our guns for their greediness. We
all revelled in the abundance of such good things, and would have much
liked to lengthen our stay; but on inspecting our supplies we found
the men had only fifteen days' rations left. We tried hard to persuade
them to subsist on half rations, as we ourselves had been doing, and
although at the time they finally expressed their willingness to do so,
and saw the expediency of the plan, still they made their promise when
filled with immense meals of hallaled antelope and heavy chupatties,
and we doubted their power of abstaining. If they could have managed
to show more self-control over their food, we reckoned in thirty more
days on half rations we should cover another three hundred miles, and
we considered the fact of travelling that distance further on, without
meeting anybody, was an absolute impossibility; besides, the general
appearance of the country was improving, and on that very evening we
actually encamped on the grassy banks of a small running stream. It
was an enticement to us to follow up this rivulet, but the extreme
southern course it took outweighed our wishes. The men already began to
grumble that they could not work on half rations, this too when they
had vast supplies of meat from the antelope. The only advice we could
give them, was to eat up their food as fast as they could, and then,
when it was all gone, they would have to exist on still less than they
were now doing, if they wanted to live at all. Whatever argument we
brought forward had no weight with such men, who would only think of
appeasing their wants for the time being. Although we spoke to them
harshly, still it was our fixed intention to strive our utmost to shoot
game for the men, so that they might save a little of their rations, and
sometimes at our midday halt we would sally forth with rifles to try
and bag something before the afternoon's march. Even then it was only
in a grumbling frame of mind that a man would accompany us to hallal
the animal.
The muleteers, too, began on some occasions to quarrel amongst
themselves, and to threaten all kinds of punishments to one another;
but the mere threatening, and actual carrying out, are very different
things. Still, there was a kind of feeling in the air that unless we
got assistance some calamity would befall us. Whilst on the march a
big black mule died, and as the pony with Sulloo had not come in, this
reduced us to only twelve animals, a very small number indeed for the
men to load and look after, and a very small cause for them to complain
of overwork.
At midday halt the spirits of the muleteers became more discontented
than ever, for no water could be found for a long time, nor would
any of them bestir themselves in the matter; so unreasonable had they
become that we doubted our ever being able to forget and forgive their
failings when we came to the end of our journey. Towards evening we saw
a fresh-water lake, and camped a mile or so east of it, choosing a spot
by some good grazing. As the animals had had no water that day, we drove
them down to the lake, but the banks all round were treacherous to such
a degree that one mule only just escaped drowning, so difficult was it
to drag him out of the heavy mud; and when we eventually did, he had
been so long in the water and was so benumbed, for the sun had set and
a bitter blast was blowing, that when we got him back to camp he was too
far gone to think of eating. He was a fine, powerful mule, and his loss
would have been severely felt by us. All our warm putties, etc., were
given up on this occasion, and the frozen mule was bandaged up almost
from head to foot. The following morning great was our relief at finding
he was none the worse whatever for his lengthened drink at the lake.