may have amounted to about ro cub.m. in the second, was divided into several branches, some large, some small, and glided noiselessly along in its slightly shelving channels. The greatest depth amounted to 0.65 m., and the water was sufficiently clear to enable us to see the bottom. The parts of the bed in which there was no
stream were moist, an indication that quite recently the volume had been incomparably greater than it was then. It is said that at times the river is impossible to cross. Even then it was difficult enough to discover a suitable ford, for the bed is full of extremely fine mud, into which our animals sank, and it was only in two or three places that we saw any gravel. The right bank did not form steps, but went up in a single slope. My guides called this stream Pitelik-darja; it is identi-
He d i n, ,journey in Central Asia. III. 9
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