National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan : vol.1 |
A STEEP GRA VEL SLOPE. 223
clear blue Yarkand River turned sharply to the east, bend-
" ing, as I subsequently ascèrtained, in such a manner that
it flows for several miles in nearly parallel stretches not
far distant from each other. The valley was here very
narrow, bounded by the lofty, rugged and barren moun-
tains characteristic of the • region, and the way was
completely barred by a perfectly vertical: cliff. Looking
up the Yarkand valley, I noticed a. very narrow track
leading across a steep gravel slope a godi height above
the river. Whether this track was formed by men or
animals- I could not guess, but in either case its course
was worth investigating, and I sent Abdul Karim forward
to ascertain whether it was such as could be travelled
over by lightly-laden ponies. While Abdul was investi-
gating I set up the theodolite and made some useful
observations. At night, with Abdul recording, I fixed
astronomically the latitude and longitude of this spot, the
most westerly point in the course of the river. Abdul's
report having been favourable, I resolved to follow his
footsteps next morning with a few ponies, and with pro-
visions and corn sufficient to last for three or four days.
It might be necessary to cross the Yarkand River, which,
even in shallow places, was considered too deep for laden
ponies ; and, for the purpose of transporting the baggage,
the Ming Bashi was induced to supply me with two
camels. Of the two camelmen sent with them, however,
one was a stranger to the neighbourhood and the other
was an idiot.
After we emerged from the Mariong valley the first
obstacle was the gravel slope already mentioned, which,
though steep, did not stop the advance of the laden
animals. The breadth of the track, which at first was
but a few inches, was widened by the tread of each pony,
and, though the improvement was of short duration owing
to the slipping down of more gravel, neither nerve nor
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