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0131 Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 / Page 131 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000234
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CHAP. v.]

KIRGHIZ HERDSMEN   79

Kirghiz settlement of Ghujak, which offered a suitable place for camping. The wind brought light rain soon after the tents were pitched, and as the temperature descended rapidly I was glad to get again into my fur coat, discarded since our entry into the open Sarikol Valleys. The hypsonreter showed an elevation of about 11,600 feet.

The next day's march was to be a short one, and accordingly I utilized the morning to ascend with Ram Singh to the top of the steep spur of conglomerate which rose immediately to the East in front of the Karakorum peaks. Light clouds, foreboding a change in the weather, had settled everywhere around the higher ranges. But the view over the great Tagharma Valley, and far beyond it to the peaks South-East of Tashkurghan, was unobstructed, and the plane table work benefited no little by this excursion. To the North, unfortunately, Murtagh-Ata, with its glaciers, hid itself in a thick veil of mist and cloud. After descending again to our last camping-place we resumed the route to the North. A little beyond I passed the mouth of a narrow side valley running to the west, known as Khayindi. It contains a little Mazar or shrine much frequented by the Kirghiz who graze around Murtagh-Ata. A little heap of stones on the road, adorned with horns of Ovis Poli and the wild goat, and a few sticks bedecked with rags of various hues, direct the attention of the wayfarer to the neighbouring shrine. The bits of rag, as throughout the hills of northern India, mark the ex-voto offerings of those who have turned to the saint for help in sickness or some other trouble.

A ride of a little over two hours along the gradually diminishing stream, and between gently sloping ridges of disintegrated rock and gravel, brought me to Kara-su. There I found a small post, or ` Karaul,' enclosed by loopholed mud walls, and my servants comfortably established in the few huts built inside. The garrison, the last on this side subject to the authority of the Tashkurghan Amban, consisted at the time