Throughout the day storms continued to rage around us amidst the adjacent hills, but, fortunately, none fell actually over us; we could not help reflecting how all this snow must have entirely baffled Sulloo and Tokhta in their tracking us, that is, if they had attempted to do so. Everywhere the country was beautifully grassy, and occasionally we picked a new species of flower. Another large lake was situated to the north of us, and during our march down the valley the hills that lay both north and south were gradually closing in. As we proceeded, the going became more difficult. In addition to another snowstorm which had fallen during the night, the valley became split up by irregular nullahs and hills running in every direction, with no defined features.
We continued making our double marches, and as the loads were becoming lighter we hoped to cover fifteen miles a day. One great continuous anxiety was the task of finding enough game to shoot, that we might all live. At one time it would be plentiful enough, at others for days we could find nothing. On some nights we registered over twenty degrees of frost, and still remained over 16,000 feet above the sea level, and at this great height we actually saw a brown butterfly.
On the 20th of July we began to notice the days were growing shorter, as the sun would rise just a few minutes before 5 o'clock; but the whole country appeared to be changing for the better, which in no small degree alleviated our fears of being able to get across this high plateau before the cold weather should set in. Generally speaking, everywhere there was more grass growing, and, instead of the coarse tufts we had been accustomed to see, their place was taken by short crisp grass, the kind of growth that is so much sought after by the nomads. We were, too, making a very gradual descent, and felt convinced that, with such natural signs, we must before very long hit off streams which would lead us to some sort of civilization.
At our midday halt the men's spirits were more cheerful. We had stopped in a fine broad nullah, running nearly due east, with pleasant-looking grassy hills sloping down on either side, and, with a cloudless sky and no wind, we were glad to sit in our shirt-sleeves, whilst our twelve veteran mules, with their saddles off, rolled in the sand before enjoying the rich grass and water. We began to pick fresh additions to our flower collection, the specimens being chiefly of a mauve or white colour, and up to the present time we had only found one yellow flower. At 7.30 P.M., in Camp 61, at a height of over 16,000 feet, the temperature was forty degrees Fahrenheit, and during the night there were nineteen degrees of frost. Fine grass and fine weather still favoured us, while the presence of a number of sand-grouse indicated that water was at no great distance off.