Identifier: ruinsofdesertcat01stei (find matches)
Title: Ruins of desert Cathay : personal narrative of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Stein, Aurel, Sir, 1862-1943 Archaeological Survey of India
Subjects:
Publisher: London : Macmillan
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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k toaccompany him on the first experimental crossing. It wasan exciting affair ; for the force of the current shook the tinycraft violently, while the shortness of the rope by which itwas attached to the steel wire made its front rise at anuncomfortable angle. But the two men hung on to thelashing and were safely pulled across. For the return passage Ram Singh decided to lengthenthe guiding rope in order to allow the raft to ride well onthe water. But the result of the change proved disastrous.Scarcely had the raft been pulled from behind the shelterof a projecting rock when the waves began to break overit. I was just beginning to think how risky it would be toexpose the baggage to such a ducking as young Musa,now the only occupant of the raft, was getting, when therewas a loud report as of a pistol shot and a violent jerk onthe rope by which the men on my side were pulling the raftacross. Under the great strain of the current the twistedwire rope had snapped just above the anchorage.
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pq cH.xvi A DANGEROUS CROSSING 195 The force of the five or six men on the pulling rope by myside was not sufficient to stem the gliding raft. But luckilyno one had been struck by the snapped wire, and they wereholding on pluckily, though the rope cut into their hands,and the jerk had nearly precipitated them into the river somethirty feet below the vertical rock bank. We all rushedto their aid. For seconds which seemed terribly long Ifeared the worst for poor Musa; but then the previouslyslack rope from the right bank helped to hold back the raft.The men on that side, realizing the danger, pulled away withall their strength, and, aided by the bearing of the current,succeeded, after some anxious minutes, in dragging the raftsafely ashore. Musa lost no time in divesting himself ofhis dripping fur coat, and soon to my comfort I saw himdrying himself on a rock and composedly munching anoat cake. Experience had shown that our wire rope, though testedfor great weight, could not resist the

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