But then Huc goes on to talk foolishness about 'the carbonic acid gas which we know is heavier than atmospheric air'—and so forth, and to tell how this carbonic acid gas caused a difficulty about lighting a fire. Marco Polo mentions the latter fact, but, belonging to the pre-scientific age, he attributes it to the great cold.[1]
In a Chinese Itinerary through Tangut and Tibet, already cited, I find a perfect explanation of Huc's strange talk. At a great many stations on both sides of the Murui-ussu (or Upper Yangtse), it is noted that there are 'noxious vapours' at the camping-ground; so no doubt Huc merely accepted and embellished the phrase of his travelling companions.
A more amusing illustration of this notion is given in Dr. Bellew's recent book, 'Kashmir and Kashgar,' where an Afghan follower, to whom he had given chlorate of potash, says: 'Yes! I'll take this, and please God it will
- ↑ Another medieval antidote to the effects of attenuated atmosphere at great heights seems to have been the application of a wet sponge to the mouth. It is mentioned by Sir John Maundevile in speaking of Mount Athos; and by a contemporary of his, John de' Marignolli, in reference to a lofty mountain in 'Saba,' probably Java. His accuracy of expression is remarkable: 'From the middle of the mountain upwards the air is said to be so thin and pure that none, or at least very few, have been able to ascend it, and that only by keeping a sponge filled with water over the mouth.' Drs. Henderson and Bellew, in crossing the high plateau to Kashgar, found chlorate of potash to be of great value in mitigating the symptoms of distress.
Slake their parch'd throats with sugar'd mulberries—
In single file they move.' ...
Sohrab and Rustum.
The authority for the 'sugar'd mulberries' is, as Mr. Arnold himself has kindly informed me, Alex. Burnes. It is a pity that this vivid and accurate picture is a little marred to an Anglo-Indian ear by the misplaced accent of Kābŭl (as it ought to be). It was told characteristically of the late Lord Ellenborough that, after his arrival in India, though for months he heard the name correctly spoken by his councillors and his staff, he persisted in calling it Căbōol till he met Dost Mahommed Khan. After the interview the Governor-General announced as a new discovery, from the Amir's pronunciation, that Cābŭl was the correct form.
