The Rashīdī History 239.3

239.3

I moved off finally, with twenty-seven men. [We suffered much] from want of supplies for the journey—from the weakness of the beasts of burden, from the difficulties of the road and from the cold. For although it was now the season of Virgo, the cold was so severe, that at a place we came to called Kara Kuram, as the sun sank, the river (which is a large one) froze over so completely, that wherever one might break the ice, not a drop of water was forthcoming. We continued our efforts [to obtain water] until bedtime prayers. The horses that had travelled all day over dam-girt ground, arriving at a stage where there was neither water nor grass, refused to eat the little barley that was left (and which we now gave them) because they had not drunk. Jan Ahmad Ataka said: "I remember once noticing a spring at about half a farsakh's distance from here." He indicated a spot in the middle of the ice, where we had to cut a hole; this time there was water, and we gave the horses to drink. There was one mare [hajar] among them, the strongest of all the beasts, whose teeth, from want of water, became so tightly locked together, that in spite of every exertion she could not drink, and therefore died. The baggage which she had carried was thus left behind. This will give some idea of the intensity of the cold. [Verse.] . . .