Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 245 (Color Image)

0245	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. VIII.] KUGIAR.

rest of the week ; the shops are there, but their

doors are shut. Then on the market day

everything bursts into life, and hundreds of

men and women from the country round, all

dressed in their best, come swarming in.

We put up that day in a delightful fruit

garden, and my bed was made in a bower of

vines, where the grapes hung in enormous

clusters, ready to drop into my mouth. Two

days later we reached Kugiar, an extensive

village, where all supplies were gathered, in

preparation for our plunge into the mountains.

We were now among the outlying spurs of the

great barrier which divides the plains of India

from those of Turkestan. Of this barrier the

nearest range is called the Kuen-lun, the centre

the Mustagh or Karakoram, and the farthest

the Himalayas.

On leaving Kugiar we headed directly into

these mountains, and were fairly launched on

our voyage of exploration, though the first

three marches had been traversed by members

of the Forsyth Mission. We crossed an easy

pass named the Tupa Dawan, and then ascended

a valley in which were a few huts and some felt

tents belonging to a race called Pakhpu.

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