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| 0273 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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When the yaks had been dragged down too, with much
trouble, we began to make our way up the ravine. A wall of
impassable rock, with a stretch of deep water at its foot, forced
us soon to search for a ford to the opposite side. This we
found, and thanks to the yaks, which waded splendidly in the
ice-cold water undismayed by the rapid current, we managed
to get safely across. The yak is a difficult animal to guide,
even on the best ground ; when in the water any attempt to
control its movements would be useless. So it was with a
feeling of relief that I noticed the instinctive care with which
our yaks made their way from one convenient boulder to the
other. The limpid water made it possible for them to see
their way as much as to feel it.
On the left bank we had scarcely advanced a few hundred
yards over jumbled masses of rock that had been swept down
from the slopes above, when we were stopped again by a
precipitous rock-face washed at its foot by the ominous blue
water. To cross over to the opposite bank, where a stretch of
boulder-strewn ground might have allowed an advance, was
quite impossible. The yak we drove into the water to test its
depth was soon obliged to swim, and had we attempted the
passage we should have had to follow its example. In order
to effect a crossing here with the needful baggage a raft or
boat was manifestly indispensable. But how could we secure
it in this forlorn region, where wood was practically unobtain-
able, and where the people had never even heard of that most
useful implement, the 'Massak,' or inflated skin?
The only chance of progress left was to take to the crags
above us, and to trust that further on a descent might be
found again to a practicable portion of the river-bed. After a
difficult climb of some 500 feet I managed to bring myself
and my men safely to a narrow flat ledge, but the yaks
had to be left below. We followed the ledge for some
hundreds of yards until it ended at the flank of a ravine that
would have defied any cragsman. A careful search for a point
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