East of the sun and west of the moon

Description

L'espionne by Ernest Daudet is a novel written in the late 19th century. It likely centers on a woman entangled in espionage and political intrigue, moving between elegant salons and the shadow world of informers and police, and probing themes of loyalty, reputation, and the personal cost of surveillance. The opening of the provided narrative follows Theodore and Kermit Roosevelt as they turn a political setback into an opportunity to mount a scientific hunting expedition across Central Asia, sponsored by the Field Museum and James Simpson. They assemble a small team—naturalist George K. Cherrie, photographer Suydam Cutting, seasoned shikaries Rahima and Khalil, veteran Guides Ahmad Shah and Feroze, and a cook and handlers—along with a pack of cougar hounds, aiming to collect big-game and small-animal specimens from the Pamirs, Turkestan, and the Tian Shan for comparative study. After securing permits via India, China, and Russia, they ship gear to Karachi, travel through England and France to Bombay, and hurry north to Srinagar to outfit a lean caravan of ponies, yaks, and porters. The trek carries them up the Sind Valley and over the snow-swept Zoji La into barren Ladakh, past Buddhist monasteries, prayer-walls, and polyandrous villages, then on to Leh for permits, polo, and last arrangements with the Aksakal, Abdullah Shah. Splitting routes, they cross the Khardong Pass with yaks, bathe at Panamik’s hot springs, and hunt burrhel—prompting a change of plan to postpone the Pamirs until winter pelts are prime. They fight altitude, cold camps on the Sasser glacier, and icy fords on the Shyok, are turned back by the Remo glacier, then swing across the Depsang Plain to crest the Karakoram, taking Tibetan antelope for meat and museum. Descending by the Suget, they savor the first grass in days, note wolf and snow-leopard sign, reach the empty Suget Karaul, and, with Kirghiz help, push down the Karakash through hazardous crossings and a cliff detour as the excerpt breaks off. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Subjects

• Asia, Central -- Description and travel
• Hunting -- Asia, Central
• DS