be exercised every day greatly surprised both caravan men and villagers, who, regarding such exercise as a good joke, wished to share in the fun. One villager, who had never been on horseback before, mounted a pony which, while merely walking demurely along the track, swerved slightly and unwittingly sent his rider to the ground. The man fell on soft earth but was quite stunned, and the messenger, despatched to the village for help only succeeded in bringing out crowds of woman, who, weeping and wailing, stared at their unconscious kinsman. It was a long time before anything could be got to serve the purpose of a stretcher, but at last the man was carried home, and in a few days he recovered from the effects of his accident.
During my stay at Polu several donkey loads of delicious grapes and peaches were brought from Kiria by small traders, who supplied me and the caravan men with fruit at a cheap rate.
When the Beg heard of my arrival he at once set out from Chaka with a -present of fruit for me ; but this official had sought to obstruct my progress, and I did not feel at liberty to meet his advances. Declining to accept the fruit, I sent back word by his servant that I refused to see him, and would let him know when it would be convenient to receive his visit, but that, in the meantime, I expected that he would see that my wants were supplied.
By October 3rd (nine days after my arrival at Polu) iiiost of the animals had recovered their strength and I resolved to resume my journey. The Yuz Bashi having promised to house and feed Nurbu, the shepherd, during the winter, I left him to look after the sheep at Polu, and set out for Chaka with the caravan. It was my intention to execute some survey work at that place, but the haze interfered. Reaching Khotan on October 9th, I found
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