1 66 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



and there was always enough and to spare of it. 

 The last day was the worst, as we then left the 

 stream with its fringe of willows, and travelled 

 through desolation till Taksan was reached. This 

 is now quite a small place, though it still boasts a 

 bazaar of a kind. The inhabitants are mostly 

 Tungans, and, I suppose, were heavily thinned after 

 the revolt, as the immense amount of old cultivation 

 about shows that there was once a numerous popu- 

 lation. The water supply is brought underground 

 by a system of wells and tunnels, and when it 

 comes to the surface is infested with small brown 

 snakes, which, however, appear to be harmless. 



We were now on the main Turfan-Aksu road, 

 and, to our surprise, found twenty -five baggage 

 animals waiting to carry supplies for us. The 

 Urumtsi amban had informed the Turfan one of 

 our coming, and the latter had sent us this very 

 welcome reinforcement. Being greatly struck by 

 this attention, we sought an explanation of it, and 

 found that the Turfan amban has this part of the 

 road in his charge, and is supposed to attend to the 

 possible purchase of supplies, such as grass and 

 grain, by travellers. This he naturally neglects to 

 do, and had sent the animals so that we should 

 have no cause for complaint. The pack-saddles 

 here were of a kind which we had not seen 

 before, consisting of a saddle and an outer wooden 

 frame, which could be lifted off. The loads were 



