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3o6 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
tionally trustworthy and tame animal. Vanka had already
been with us two years, and was as faithful and obedient as
a dog, while he looked after the other sheep with so much
sense and cleverness that they scarcely needed any other
shepherd. Of all the animals which passed before me that
day Vanka was the only one left wlien we reached Kashgar
a year later. Before starting again it was necessary to re-
inspect all the loads, and make various alterations and
rearrangements, and this took a whole day. During the
journey up the Cossacks had made for me a remarkably
comfortable little yurt, and this I now substituted for the
old one. The shore of the lake was like a busy mart, what
with the yurts and the tents, and the bales of goods, the
animals grazing all over the locality, mounted men going to
and fro, and other men sitting round the fires talking.
Meanwhile, the breakers tumbled upon the shore, while the
rain pattered thick and fast about our ears.
The hour had now come for the Lama to make his fmal
decision. I let him settle the matter himself, and was very
pleased when of his own accord he came to my yurt, and
declared that it was his intention to follow me wherever I
might go ; only there was one favour he begged me to grant
him, and that was, if he fell sick I would not desert him,
and this of course I readily promised. It was nothing
short of a blessing that he agreed to go with me, otherwise
I do not know what would have happened.
Finally, I called together all the Mussulmans, and pub-
licly nominated Turdu Bai Tugachi-hashi, or Captain of the
Camels, while Hamra Kul, a big, loosely-built fellow, was
appointed At-bashi, or Superintendent of the Horses. His
son, Turdu Akhun, a lad of sixteen, was the Mohammedans’
" maid-of-all-work." The other men of my little troop I
will introduce as occasion offers.
At last the morning dawned when I had the whole of my
strength collected together in one place, and had no longer
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