ncamp on
one spot. The pasturages became so scarce and meagre, that the animals
of the caravan could not travel all together, without the danger of
starving all together. We joined the camel party, and soon left behind
us the long-haired oxen. The camel party itself was before long fain to
subdivide; and the grand unity once broken, there were formed a number of
petty caravans, which did not always concur, either as to the place of
encampment or the hour of departure.

We were imperceptibly attaining the highest point of Upper Asia, when a
terrible north wind, which lasted fifteen days, combined with the fearful
severity of the temperature, menaced us with destruction. The weather
was still clear; but the cold was so intense that even at mid-day we
scarcely felt the influence of the sun's rays, and then we had the utmost
difficulty in standing against the wind. During the rest of the day, and
more especially during the night, we were under constant apprehension of
dying with cold. Everybody's face and hands were regularly ploughed up.
To give something like an idea of this cold, the reality of which,
however, can never be appreciated, except by those who have felt it, it
may suffice to mention a circumstance which seemed to us rather striking.
Every morning, before proceeding on our journey, we ate a meal, and then
we did not eat again until the evening, after we had encamped. As tsamba
is not a very toothsome affair, we could not get down, at a time, as much
as was required for our nourishment during the day; so we used to make
three or four balls of it, with our tea, and keep these in reserve, to be
eaten, from time to time, on our road. The hot paste was wrapped in a
piece of hot linen, and then deposited in our breast. Over it, were all
our clothes; to wit, a thick robe of sheepskin, then a lamb-skin jacket,
then a short fox-skin cloak, and then a great wool overall; now, upon
every one of the fifteen days in question, our tsamba cakes were always
frozen. When we took them out, they were merely so many balls of ice,
which, notwithstanding, we were fain to devour, at the risk of breaking
our teeth, in order to avoid the greater risk of starvation.

The animals, overcome with fatigue and privation, had infinite difficulty
in at all resisting the intensity of the cold. The mules and horses,
being less vigorous than the camels and long-haired oxen, required
especial attention. We were obliged to pack them in