LEH TO YARKAND 31 



Unpromising as the soil looks, it only needs water 

 to become astonishingly fertile, the crops being most 

 luxuriant ; whilst owing to the hot climate in the 

 summer, many kinds of fruit are grown in great 

 perfection, among which the melons of Central Asia 

 have been long and justly celebrated. During the 

 winter the atmosphere is pretty clear, but in summer- 

 time the sky is usually overcast, partly with clouds, 

 but more with dust, raised from the desert by storms 

 of wind (duran), which hangs in the air ; the result 

 is a general haziness, the distance being all obscured, 

 and one would never imagine that there are great 

 mountains so close at hand, as for months at a time 

 they are quite invisible. 



To return to Kargalik ; the amban there (I use 

 the word as meaning a Chinese official of standing, 

 never having been able to make out their various 

 grades) was so attentive as to be rather a nuisance. 

 He sent us a present of sheep, fowls, etc., and 

 repeated messages begging us to stay a day or two 

 and have dinner with him, a frequent request from ( 

 ambans about here, but we excused ourselves on 

 the plea of haste. Chinese officials nearly always 

 send presents and it is difficult to know what to 

 give in return. On this occasion we sent a box 

 of crystallised fruits ; these and liqueurs seem to be 

 most appreciated, being perhaps as good as any- 

 thing. 



In our Kargalik orchard there were only a few 



