MARALBASHI TO AKSU 45 



little way is close to them. Here at the foot of the 

 hills is Mazar Tagh (hill of the saint's tomb), a very 

 sacred place, and we went to see the hoof-prints 

 made in the rock by the steed of Hazrat Ali. It 

 must have been a remarkably fine horse, as the 

 hoof-prints in the hillside are about sixty yards long, 

 and another hill which was used as a manger is 

 some miles off. Beyond this there are a lot of old 

 houses, but I could not find out whether they were 

 the remains of an ancient city or simply an example 

 of the Chinese method of dealing with "a country 

 when engaged in putting down a revolt. 



Shortly after lea-ving Tumshok we got into tree 

 jungle, so there must be water somewhere near; 

 nevertheless, Chadir Kul is supplied by a well the 

 contents of which are distinctly brackish. Next day 

 the road was still through jungle, passing several 

 watercourses, which were, however, nearly dry, with 

 the exception of one nearYakka Kudak ; here a native 

 volunteered the information that the jungle was full 

 of pheasants and said that he would show us some 

 if we would come with him. So, thinking that the 

 young birds would be pretty well grown by now and 

 that some of them would be a pleasant addition to 

 our rather monotonous bill of fare, we got the guns 

 out and told him to lead on. He started off as hard 

 as he could walk straight through the jungle, and 

 after about four miles we arrived in a very heated 

 condition at our guide's gourd-patch ! Of course we 



