178 YARKAND AND KARGHALIK [CHAP. X.
doubts that exist as to their ethnic affinity. From the description recorded by members of the Yarkand Mission it appears that the Phakhpo in build and features are eminently " Aryan " looking. Yet they are distinct from the Tajiks of Sarikol, and are believed to speak a Turki dialect. Their small numbers, distant home, and shy habits have so far prevented any close observation. I was no luckier in this respect, as, notwithstanding the watch kept by the Amban's order, no Phakhpos could be discovered among the market crowds. To wait for the arrival of men who might have been fetched from their mountains would have meant the delay of a week, which I could not afford.
Instead of these hill-folk the day brought another interesting acquaintance, a travelling Buddhist monk from the East of China who had begged his way through to Aksu and Khotan and was now again on his way northward. He had somehow heard of the respect I paid to ` Tang-Seng's' memory, and not unnaturally hoped for some help on his onward journey. His was evidently not a pilgrimage in search of sacred sites connected with Buddhism. Yet his simple, jovial way appealed to me, and I was glad to return his gift of a religious tract, nicely painted
on red paper, with an offering of silver that sent the humble
devotee away quite happy and contented.
I shall always look back with pleasure to the short stay at Karghalik, or rather Yetimlukum, as the village is called
BUDDHIST MONK FROM CHINA.
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