3 20 IN TIBET AND CHINESE- .TURK S TA N
night with all my clothes on, I coii.ld.:n t _get -warm till had dosed myself with Dover's powder:
In the morning we found that some of the animals had. strayed and it was necessary to. remain in our present quarters for that day, but we found- some good grass- at a little distance from the camp.; About a mile off were some low hills whenc-e the site of Camp 115. could be seen ; but I was too-weak to walk•to those hills, and in returning from the attempt • I became so tired that I had to rest several times.
On the next morning eight ponies and four donkeys were missing, and parties were sent out to search. for them. Abdul Karim had not gone far when he sent back for his s word and carbine, saying that he had seen men hurriedly driving away the donkeys. Many ponies happened to be in the camp being shod, and no time was lost in sending help. Rabzung, the lightest- and boldest rider left behind, was sent with arms and ammunition to Abdul, while I, accompanied by Ram Singh, Mohammed Joo, and Niaz Akun, armed with carbines, set off in pursuit of the supposed robbers. Owing to the thinness of the air, my strongly-built and well-bred pony was unable to go at a faster rate than a slow trot, the ground sloping gently upwards in the direction we were going. The men driving off the donkeys at first hastened away when we carne in sight, but, being alarmed at our carbines, they halted and told us who they were. They turned out to be natives of Kiria returning from a temporary post which had been formed near Aksu. When we and they were satisfied, they returned with us to Saroz Kul, and the Chinese official who had command of the small expedition told me what his orders were. A temporary station had
- been formed at Aksu to demonstrate to me that I was on Chinese ground; my efforts to travel thither by the direct
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