lamas, who taught each other, went in for it. They prepared most of their medicines themselves from herbs, roots etc. In the evening a smart Russian merchant called on me, Isakoff by name, the representative of the firm of Griaznoff in Omsk. For three years he had been buying oxen in Yulduz and Qarashahr. He drives about 1500 of them annually over Dagit to Qulja and thence along the Borolöla valley and so on. It shows great enterprise on his part to get so far with tens of thousands of roubles in silver without speaking Chinese or Kalmuk. He does all this for a couple of thousand roubles a year without having any share in the profits.
Last night a letter arrived from the Dzian Dziun about my coming journey through the Yulduz valley. This morning the Khansha gave orders that a yurt was to be put up at once next to my tent. People were fetched for my anthropological measurements, horses were provided for my journey to Qaragai Tash — it is really hard to imagine the magical effect produced by a letter from a high Chinese official among these people.
We started this morning with none but fresh horses, hired from the Kalmuks thanks to the influence of the Khansha, leaving all my horses and some baggage in the Khan's camp in charge of Hassain, as I intend to wander about for a few days in the Yulduz valley in order to get some idea of it, not so much geographically as in regard to its means of communication, resources and population. At the same time I want to make a last shooting trip with Numgan in the direction of the Qaragai Tash pass in the hope of shooting an »Ovis Poli».
We set our course about 70° SW. For a time we had the westernmost spurs of Bain Bulaq ulu on the left on the other side of the mouth of the Dagit dawan. When these came to an end, the ground was slightly marshy for a distance of about 70o yards southward
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