Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/99

80 camels and a riding-horse for me. Eklon bestrode a camel. We took with us a yurta [felt tent] in case of severe cold, and provisions to last six weeks. Our guides were two of the best hunters of Lob-nor, in whose opinion hunting wild camels in winter offered few chances of success. We nevertheless decided upon trying our luck, for we could not defer making the attempt till spring, having other work to do then, such as observing the flight of birds.

Let us first describe the Altyn-tagh Mountains. This range is first seen from the Airilgan ferry, upwards of 100 miles off, whence it appears as an indistinct, narrow belt, hardly remarkable above the horizon. After the wearisome monotony of the Tarim valley and its adjacent desert, the traveller greets with pleasure this range, which gradually grows more distinct at the end of each successive march. Not only are the peaks distinguishable, but the principal ravines may also be traced, and an experienced eye can even from a great distance detect their relative height to be very considerable. On arriving at Chargalyk the Altyn-tagh appeared to us like a huge rampart towering up even higher towards the south-west, where it exceeded the limit of the perpetual snow line. We succeeded in exploring these mountains, that is to say, their northern slopes, over an extent of 300 versts east of Chargalyk. Throughout the