alley --we could sèe thàt- the ground was white and
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?_evidently impassable for poniès and donkeys. I therefore rescued -to. send the greater part of the caravan, corning most of the men, -all the ponies and donkeys, and _ a the- spare baggage and :food, tô the Kulan Urgi valley -tô .wait as . nëar Issok Su "Agzi as the supply of grass in - the neighbourhôod w.oûld.:allow, while Ram Singh and I,
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accompanied by. Abdul Karim, Dass, Mohammed Joo, and Sonam, under the direction of the yak-men, would follow the -track of the Kirghiz. The yak were six in number, and= these were :represented as sufficient to carry the two "tents: .(which on the journey proved only burdensome, not useful)-, ' the instruments, the bedding, food, cooking utensils, and, as the weather was very severe, an abundant stock of clothing and rugs. In the evening, seated at my tent door, with the thermometer at about 00 F., I found it necessary -to labour at my computations, consulting logärithniic tables and the Nautical Almanac, and at the same. time to • superintend the weighing of the packages and the issuing of rations for the separate travelling parties-.--- When these various duties had been accom- plished, äand when I had- given instructions fôr next morning to Yul- Bash and, -the yak-men from Dia, I was -able to turn into my tent, and tie myself in my sleeping--bag for a good night's rest.
Next morning I was early astir, but the air was cold rand - raw, the temperature at seven o'clock being under >_ 00 F., and the day was well advanced before we set out. '_The snow in the open was not more than six inches deep, and the tracks of the Kirghiz were easy to follow. This company consisted, as I was now told, of men who were attending Tahir Beg, the chief interpreter of the ChowKuan of Yarkand, on an official mission to Raskam, and the rumour was current that Tahir Beg was going to point out to the three envoys of the Mir of Munza the
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