which decided me to extend my tour in that direction. Abdullah, a respectable cultivator of Keriya, told me of having seen about ten years earlier houses evidently of the sanie type as at Dandan- Uiliq, half buried in the sand, some marches beyond the famous Mazar of Imam Jafar Sadik. Others too had heard stories of this " old town." The eagerly expected ponies for some unaccountable reason had failed as yet to arrive. But in a country where there is neither telegraph nor a real post-office, one learns to take such little delays calmly, and the Amban's help amply provided for all needful transport.