Part 9 (1/2)
When such a thing happens a couple ofthe their march One of the caravan, however, is selected to keep up a continual conversation with the , to prevent their ht The uide in the pitchlike darkness, and woe to the poor fellows if a contrary wind hinders the it On the 16th of May we perceived in a north-eastern direction the _, and reached it on the afternoon of the saht look forward tofriendly Yomut-Turkoeneral anxiety on that subject, the fear of the possibility of being attacked by soreat as the expectation ofthe forhbourhood Before long we caught sight of solitary tents, and, our apprehensions being dispelled, we asked ourselves what tribe ere to meet After all they were Yomuts, and we passed the whole day with them
[Illustration: A LIGHT FOR THE COMPass]
I was agreeably surprised to find near the Karendag Mountains some old ruins; the fable attaches to the from His special love for the Turkomans placed the Kaaba here first, but that Goklen, a lame blue devil, pulled it dohereupon God carried the Kaaba to Mecca And this was the reason why the Turkoainst the Goklens, who have descended fro in the environs cae in trade with so ready to start, one of the buffalo cows presented the caravan with a healthy calf, to the kervanbashi+'s intense satisfaction On the road it occurred to him that the calf was too feeble to follow us on foot, and that he must find a place for it on the back of one of the ca the only ones occupying a kedsheve he naturally thought of us, and asked that one of us should give up our place to the newborn anined his basket with the uts for me, who could not with my lame foot find accommodation everywhere But no sooner did my counterpoise occupy the hadji's place than I discovered the real cause of his great co a pestiferous s but occasionally withthe day, when the sun shone out hot, I could hardly bear ony did not last long, the calf departing this life three days afterwards
From the spot where we started on the 18th of May, it was calculated that the Great Balkan was distant two days' uides hoped we should find rain water on the flat lands We had last filled our canteens fro, and such as it was, it had beco shaken up on the camels' backs, a liquid mass of mud, loathsome both to the smell and taste We had, nevertheless, to be very econo any water before passing the Great Balkan Our ular We usually es daily, of one hour and a half, and two hours' duration The first was before daybreak, ould bake one day's ration of bread; the second at noon, to afford some rest to both animals and men; and the third before sunset, in order to eat ourof a little bread and of a few drops of water carefully doled out The soil of the country through which we passed was a hard-baked clay producing scantily and at intervals a few blades of sickly grass The blazing suncracks It is frightfully wearisoly the boundless plain froe of life is banished, soof a new station is quite a relief, as it affords so motion of the camel
[Illustration: THE KARENDAG HILLS]
On the following day, about noon, the Little Balkan Mountains loomed up before us in the hazy distance The Turkomans spoke to me in the most laudatory strain of the extent and size of this mountain chain as well as of its beauty and wealth in minerals The kervanbashi+, otherwise alakeful, feeling oppressed by sleep as the evening set in, left the caravan under the care of the leader of the ca our lives There are at the foot of the Balkan many salt marshes, covered with a thick white surface, foruish froround Into one of these the substitute of the kervanbashi+ had taken us, and we had already advanced so far that the aniround under their feet, refused to go on in spite of all urging We quickly juined when upon touching ground I had a rocking sensation as if seated on a swing, the ground apparently giving way under eneral Finally the kervanbashi+ called out that every one should remain where he was until sunrise, e should be able to extricate ourselves from our perilous position For three mortal hours we dared not stir and had to re besides to suffer froth the gray streak in the east assuing With considerable trouble and exertion the caravan succeeding in getting out of thistheir steps to the solid track Had we advanced but a little farther into the salt marshes, part of the caravan, if not the whole, would have been doomed to certain destruction
On the 20th of May we reached the _Little Balkan_, which stretches fro its foot on that day and the whole day following The kervanbashi+ declared that we had but just now reached the veritable desert We soon ca it we entered on the opposite side a high plateau By and by the Balkan mountain chain vanished in the blue distance, and the desert in all its awful grandeur spread before us Man is overwhelmed here by the idea of the infinite The impression produced by the absence of all sounds, by the very change in the colour and appearance of the sun, is indescribable Up to this tiht that the charination of enthusiastic travellers, but I lived to be undeceived in this my supposition
We camped near _Yeti Siri_ on the 22nd of May This place owes its name to seven wells which stood there in ancient times, and most of which are now dry In one or two of them some little waterto its salty taste and nasty smell The kervanbashi+ co, but at thislittle water (abundantly mixed as it ithcontents of the wells The anierly co a little we resumed our march and, on our way, happened to observe, on a sand mound, raised above the smaller heaps of sand, two empty kedsheves In the opinion of ed to some persons who had died on this spot; and the Turkomans hold in veneration every object once possessed bydesolation into a country as co of piety for a wooden basket--because, forsooth, awith the kervanbashi+ and a couple of Turkomans, on foot, to look for the hoped-for rain-water We were all well armed, and went in search of water in different directions I followed the kervanbashi+--hom I had been on the best terht of footprints in the sand and, lighting our tinder, we followed theht, to the ht hesitation, and beheld there, to our ut, unkeer nails, wrapped in cha his lance made a rush at us I retreated as quickly as I could, butthe ar in a low voice, ”Aman bol!” (Peace be with thee!), he left the dreadful place Not daring to ask too many questions, I learned fro, that the man as ”Kanli dir” (a man stained with blood) I was afterwards told that this unhappy being had fled fro for years, summer and winter, in the wilderness
Our companions, like ourselves, returned with ehtest indication could be found
It was an appalling thought that the few drops of s I still possessed would be used up to-day That evening I ate a few pieces of bread soaked in boiling water, for I had heard that the water lost its bitter taste by boiling I deter, for in comparison to many of my companions I had every reason to be satisfied with ood health and they were suffering a great deal fro drunk from the brackish water So secreted a quantity of drinkable water But to rely upon being supplied, in the desert, ater belonging to another person, would be the height ofwater in the desert is looked upon as demented I had lost my appetite and could not s even a few bits of bread I dropped on the ground, exhausted and weak, and pitiedand flocking around the kervanbashi+, and so to h to infuse new life intoon, and on reaching the crowd I saw the kervanbashi+ dealing out about two glasses of clear sater to every member of the caravan This brave Turkoman afterwards told us that for years he had been in the habit of storing away in secret places large quantities of water, to distribute it in tireat need, when every one is benefited by it This is a great _sevab_ (pious act), for a Turko in the desert ash away the sins of a hundred years”
It is just as hard to deterood action as it is to describe the enjoy for food was gone, I did not feel anywithout water for three days As far as drinking was concerned I was all right again, but it had all gone wrong with my bread Froht that instead of using wood for fuel, which it took soet as it was at soular fuel of the desert--but of this too I had gathered rather less than was needed
I placed the dough into the hot ashes, but there was not heat enough to bake it into bread, even if it had been left there for a week I quickly ran off to gather some wood, but it was quite dark when I returned I i a little fire, but no sooner was it perceived by the kervanbashi+, than he called out to ask ”If I wished to betray by the smoke our caravans to the enemy?” I had to put out the fire at once, and take with me the unleavened bread half done
On the 23rd of May the rays of the sun beat down upon our heads with a scorching heat The sand to the depth of a foot became so hot, that even the most hardened Asiatic who had never worn either shoe or boot on his feet, was compelled to fasten around them a piece of leather, sandal fashi+on It was only ten years later, when a Russian army, led by Colonel Markusoff had crossed this part of the desert, that I learnt that the heat in the rees Reaurees Fahrenheit) in the sun! No wonder that the effect of the refreshi+ng beverage of yesterday was soon gone, and that I began to be tantalized anew by thirst At noon ere informed by the kervanbashi+ that ere not far froes In duty bound we had to dismount and walk for a quarter of an hour until we reached the saint's grave, where we perfor compelled, worn out with the heat and half dead with thirst, to join the band of pilgrims The tombs rose on an eminence; they crowded around it and yelled out with dry throats, _telkins_ and citations froht within et thyself buried in sorirave, which was about thirty feet long, and covered with ra looked upon in Central Asia as a symbol of supre in his grave had been a giant, as tall as the grave was long, and that ever so long ago he had defended the wells hereabouts against evil spirits who had threatened to block the the saint's grave, marked the places where poor travellers, who had lost their lives in different places of the desert either by the hands of robbers or by ele of the wells placed under the patronage of the saint, ht we should find drinkable water in the neighbourhood I hastened to be aht sight of a brownish puddle-like spring, and helpedsome into the hollow of ht it near my lips I had to leave it untasted, it was so brackish, bitter, and ill-s My depression becaan to be seriously alarmed about my future
[Illustration: A WELL IN THE DESERT]
Luckily for us a heavy rain store drops, and towards e of the sand It took us three days to pass through it We were sure of finding on to-day's road in the loaround an abundance of rain-water The kervanbashi+, judging by the nuazelles and wild asses, anticipated with certainty the acco no opinion of his own, only pressed forward, and very soon discovered, with his lynx eyes, at a great distance, a pool of rain-water Su! Su! (water! water!) was on everybody's lips when the kervanbashi+ had communicated his discovery We arrived there towards noon, and e pool we had seen at a distance, numerous pits filled with the sweetest rain-water I was the first to run up to theoatskin and other vessels with the precious fluid before it beca stirred up A quarter of an hour later everybody sat at his breakfast with a feeling of infinite delight
From this station to Khiva we could without interruption fill our skins with sater, and our further progress beca, contrasted with our for we reached a place where everything pointed to the , and camped ahts involuntarily reverted to ht of yesterday, and it ith some difficulty I could persuade myself that the landscape before me was not an idle dream To add to our satisfaction, the kervanbashi+ announced to the caravan that the danger from attacks was over, and that we should be perht Our Turkoman fellow-travellers attributed the abundance of water to the fact that we, the hadjis, had been with theaily proceeded on our journey
XXI
IN KHIVA
Towards evening we arrived at the ravine beyond which spread the so-called plain of _Kaflankir_ (Tigerland) The ascent to this table-land, which is about three hundred feet high, was excessively fatiguing to e that Kaflankir had been anciently an island for all around it It is undeniable that this tract of land differs greatly fro wilderness in its structure, the luxuriance of its vegetation, and the great number of animals it harbours We had azelles and wild asses on ourin flocks by hundreds On one occasionan i nearer and nearer The kervanbashi+ and the Turkomans immediately seized their arms, and their impatience increased the nearer the cloud drew We finally succeeded in discovering that it was caused, apparently, by a troop of horseular line The Turkomans dropped their arms Fifty paces fro and almost concealed by the dust; and oneone of the sudden halt of a troop of a thousand horsemen in line We saw before us innu suddenly in serried ranks These strong and lively ani at us for a second, and then started away like the ind in a western direction
On the 28th of May we came to _Shor Gol_ (salt lake) in the plateau of Kaflankir We took a rest of six hours in order to go through the ablutions commanded by Islalect On this occasion my fellow-travellers opened their bundles, and every one of them found a spare shi+rt in it; I was the only one who had none Hadji Bilal offered me the loan of one, but I declined it with thanks, well knowing that in reatest security My face was covered by a layer of dust an inch thick I had numerous occasions, in the desert, to wash it off, but I preferred keeping it on as a protection against the heat of the sun Truth to tell, not only ured by the _teye with the sand, the substitute for the ablutions ater, ordered by the Prophet to travellers in the desert After , I saw only what great lords they looked like in comparison to me Several of them offered to lend me parts of their wardrobe, but I thanked the their kind offers, I announced to them that I should wait until the Khan of Khiva suppliedon for four days in the high plateau of Kaflankir, when one ht of nuht and left The occupants of these tents careeting of ”A st the people ere encamped here, he proceeded at once to procure from the this, one of the ifts He came back very soon from his errand, loaded doith e brewed of st us Before long No to shake hands with us, and thus perfor to God For our share in this pious act ere rereat quantities of camel's, horse's and sheep's flesh
[Illustration: AN ASININE ARMY]
As ere preparing our tea on the evening of the 30th of May, ere startled by the wild sca of the camels which we had turned loose