Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/235

Rh  and the Montifringilla (sp.) so numerous in Koko-nor.

After this long digression on the fauna of Northern Tibet, I resume my narrative.

As I mentioned in the last chapter, we hired a guide in Tsaidam, and, accompanied by him, started for the Burkhan Buddha. In order to lighten as much as possible the loads of our camels, which carry with great difficulty the smallest pack over these enormous elevations, we left some of our supplies of barley-meal and flour in Tsaidam, and buried our spare ammunition under some stones near the summit of the Burkhan Buddha pass. Notwithstanding this our packs, filled as they were with skins of animals, were quite heavy enough, and we were compelled to bury in the sand two yak skins obtained for our collection, only taking them with us on our way back.

These two months and a half in Northern Tibet were the most arduous of the whole of the expedition. Winter had set in with severe frosts and storms, and the want of even the bare necessaries of life, with other privations, reduced our strength; so that it became a hard struggle for life, and nothing but a consciousness of the scientific importance of our labours inspired us with strength and energy to carry out the task we had undertaken.

For better protection against the cold we took the yurta given us by the uncle of the Prince of Koko-nor; and if it gave us a great deal of additional trouble,