National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan : vol.1 |
68 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
noticed him busily discharging his carbine at a fine animal which would not yield. The stream of '303
bullets appeared to have no effect except to enrage the
yak, and Pike's ammunition was soon exhausted. The attack had begun in a narrow valley with steep sides,
where there was not very much chance for Pike if his
weapon failed him, but he contrived to reach a large projecting rock inaccessible to the pursuing yak. His
urgent signals showed that he was in straits, and I at
once dispatched Nurbu (the Ladaki shepherd) with ammunition, which he speedily delivered. The next
report of the rifle was the death-knell of the animal which had made so good a defence. After the carcase had been skinned and cut up, we went in search of another yak which had been wounded. For a couple of hours we tracked him and a third which had joined him, and at last I was able to get a long shot, but he galloped away as if uninjured.
The effects of the atmospheric conditions at these altitudes seemed curiously inconstant. Here, at 16,630 feet above the sea, most of the Argûns complained of headache, though at greater elevations they had suffered no inconvenience. So distressed were they now that they refused to partake of the fresh meat which was their favourite food. Leno, on the last day at Camp 51, was also ill, but Sanman, Dass, and the two Sikhs were not affected. Those of our company who smoked found some difficulty in gratifying their taste. The pipe was easily lighted, but vigorous suction was required to keep the smouldering fire in existence, and the violence of this exertion seemed more than the satisfaction was worth, so that even habitual smokers like Pike were content with an occasional whiff. Being a non-smoker I was not troubled in this way, but I was annoyed at the serious reduction in the illuminating power of the candles,
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