40 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



which we had brought out. Great was the admira- 

 tion and astonishment of the natives when the 

 launch was accomplished and they saw that it would 

 float. 



For the next three marches the caravan went by 

 land and we by water, a pleasant change from the heat 

 and dust of the road, as there always was a breeze. 

 The river is very wide and shallow in places, so 

 that at times it was not easy to distinguish the main 

 channel, and as the current was pretty strong, and 

 the boat . steered about as well as the proverbial 

 dray, we several times nearly got wrecked on snags, 

 of which there were more than enough, and occasion- 

 ally ran aground on sand-banks ; but these were 

 minor drawbacks to which we soon got used. 



The scenery is not interesting, as the country is 

 nearly dead- flat ; the banks are covered with reeds 

 (kkamisk) and low jungle -bushes, with here and 

 there a clump of bigger trees where there is a 

 village. The villages are all some way back from 

 the shore. The bed of the river is too big for the 

 amount of water in it, and there are extensive mud- 

 flats and sandbanks among which the stream pursues 

 its devious way, twisting about in every direction, 

 and sometimes trying, with more or less success, to 

 run two ways at once. The result of this was, that 

 it was impossible to say how long it would take to 

 reach the village where we were to halt ; for jour- 

 neying by water doubles the distances, at least. On 



