'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎308] (351/360)

THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
the rarefied atmosphere, and the intense cold, I frankly
confess that I could have sat down and wept from sheer
exhaustion. I did my best to follow in my brother's foot
prints, as did King Wenceslas' page in the Christmas
carol, but it was weary work pulling oneself up from
hole after hole, and our progress was painfully slow and
fatiguing.
Everything, however, has an end sooner or later, and
when we had achieved our fifth undulation it dawned upon
us that the snow was less deep, so we took heart and re
mounted, seeing some way off the village of Kharzan and
a great caravan approaching us. We crawled carefully
down the next hill. Sultan Sukru and his horse turning a
complete somersault on the way; and then came the
problem of how we were to pass the slowly moving kafila A train of travellers; a caravan; or any large party of travellers. >
as there was only room for one animal on the track at a
time.
My brother, who was leading, struck out into the deep
snow, and his horse and a mule from the caravan rolled
over together, so that he had some difficulty in getting
clear of their hoofs, and hardly had he recovered himself
than my steed sat down with me, and I judged it wiser to
slide off.
With many a tumble and struggle we managed to pass
the long string of mules and reach the beaten track again,
after which we proceeded merrily to Kharzan, having taken
five hours to do a distance not much over six miles, but
being too thankful to have accomplished it to complain of
the difficulties of the route. After a halt and some lunch
we set off for the nine miles down hill to Paichenar,
finding no snow, but streams of mud which made the track
very dangerous in places. Our mules came in that evening,