Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 22 (Color Image)

0022	Among the Celestials : vol.1

2 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. I.

Himalayas to the plains of Turkestan beyond.

Here I found many of his old pensioners—men

who had accompanied him on his several jour-

neys to Yarkand and Kashgar, the principal

towns on the northern side of the Himalayas

and books too, and maps, and old manuscripts.

I was among the relics of an explorer, at the

very house in which his schemes were formed,

and from which he had started to carry out his

plans. I pored over the books and maps, and

talked for hours with the old servants, till the

spirit of exploration gradually entered my soul,

and I rushed off on a preliminary tour on foot

in the direction of Tibet, and planned a great

journey into that country for the following

year.

That first wild wandering through the Hima-

layas is one on which I look back with almost

keener enjoyment than on any other journey

I have subsequently made. I had been in

Switzerland and seen snow-mountains before,

but only as a boy, when I was not able to

wander as I would. Now I was free, and in

all the pride and keenness of twenty-one. One

march a day was not enough for me ; I made

two regularly, and sometimes three, and wanted

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