Meyer: Collecting in Turkestan 



161 



NATIVE PLUM IN FULL BLOOM. 



Russian Asia is rich in native plums, some of which are valuable commercially, while others 

 are promising only as hardy stocks for grafting. Primus insititia, shown in this picture, 

 is locally known as the alutcha, and is said to be extraordinarily prolific, as well as a regular 

 bearer. Some of the species are quite ornamental. Meyer mentions one found along a 

 watercourse in the mountains near Kulikalan, vSamarkand, Turkestan, at an elevation of 

 6,000 feet, which had hght green leaves and bore long racemes of small, oval, scarlet fruits 

 of a bitter-sweet taste. It and many other species are now growing in the United States, 

 as a result of his exploration. (Figure 5.) 



the descent was at times even dangerous 

 and, horses and men all being tired, we 

 camped at 4 P. M. on a grassy, level 

 place, near a stream, and had a great 

 time in getting enough to eat, for there 

 are very few people in this elevated 

 region of Central Asia and food is scarce 

 and at times altogether unobtainable. 

 We got, however, sour milk and pea- 

 flour bread and, with some conserved 

 sausages which we had still with us, we 

 made a meal of it. The interpreter could 

 not stand the rarefied mountain air ; he 

 had heavy hemorrhages from the nose 

 twice a day and felt quite weak. The 

 guide, who was addicted to strong drink, 

 could not get anything, of course, and 

 had become very sullen, so you may 

 imagine that I was not in a sociable 

 company. 



Well, on Monday, July 11, we passed 



through wild, rocky scenery, going along 

 precipices where the horses had to be 

 held by two men, one at the head and 

 one at the tail, so as to prevent acci- 

 dents. In the afternoon, about five 

 o'clock, while collecting wild cherries 

 on the mountain slope, we came all of a 

 stidden upon a caravan, consisting of 20 

 people and still more horses. It proved 

 to be the civil-administrator of the dis- 

 trict, accompanied by the chief of police 

 of Pendshikent, an interpreter, local 

 chiefs of villages, guards, scouts, etc. 



Our meeting was somewhat remark- 

 able, as few white men ever travel in 

 these regions. 



The first thing we were asked for was, 

 of course, our passports. The adminis- 

 trator (a Russian police-officer of high 

 rank) said that my papers were not as 

 they ought to be, as they were not defi- 



