22 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



the stream very strong, they were swept a long way 

 down before they landed. I fully expected that 

 several of them would be drowned, as they seemed 

 to be poor swimmers, but in the end only one was 

 missing ; months afterwards we heard that he also 

 had been found all right, and we got him on our 

 return to Leh. 



The Nubra Valley, like the rest of Ladak, is 

 a stony waste except where the villages are ; round 

 them there are patches of irrigation and willow and 

 apricot trees ; the soil is the most hopeless-looking 

 stuff, and looks as though it could not possibly 

 grow anything, but it manages to do so somehow 

 as soon as the water is turned on to it. At Taghar 

 we met the first of the Yarkand merchants on their 

 way down ; they told us the road was open all right, 

 but they had no caravan with them as they were 

 only bringing silver down to buy goods in Leh. 

 Here also we were treated to a dreary performance 

 which the natives call dancing ; it is said to be 

 symbolical, but no one seems to know exactly of 

 what, and as they only walk slowly about it is not 

 exciting to witness, but they enjoy it immensely, 

 and will keep at it for hours. The music was pro- 

 vided by a band of tom-toms, horns, and flutes of 

 sorts whose efforts to please would have been more 

 successful had they been further off; however, we 

 professed ourselves charmed, and finally sent them 

 away happy, with a small present. 



