IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
430 FROM AK-SU TO YARKAND
CH. XC
their stately good looks (Fig. 305). The heavy season of
traffic to the Indian and Russian sides was approaching,
and when the owners of camel caravans had convinced
themselves that I was in no hurry to sell, the offers,
ridiculously low at first, began to rise steadily.
At last they topped my own estimate, and then with a
secret pang I had to let my faithful beasts pass into the
possession of an Afghan trader. The price he paid down
in hard rolls of silver amounted to 51 Taels, or roughly
13o rupees per animal, and yielded a net profit of 70 per
cent on the original cost—for the benefit of the Indian
Government. For the last few days my camels had been
feasting on bundles of fragrant dry lucerne and on young
foliage around ` my' garden palace of Chini-bagh. Now
for a farewell treat they had a huge loaf of bread from my
own hands, and took it almost as eagerly as when I fed
them in the heart of the desert. Have they ever since
wished to be back with their master—as I have often
wished to travel again with them ?
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