TAKSAN TO KORLA 167 



attached to this frame, and never untied from it 

 unless wanted, and the contrivance saved a lot of 

 time, as, after the saddle was on, the frame and load 

 were put on the top, and there were no more ropes 

 or girths to be attended to. 



TAKSAN TO KORLA 



Marches. 



1. Taksan to Su-bashi . . . 12 miles. 



2. Su-bashi to Akbulak . . . 12 



3. Akbulak to Kamish . . . 30 



4. Kamish to Kara Kizil . . . 19 



5. Kara Kizil to Ushak Kul . . 27 



6. Ushak Kul to Tah-wul-gai . . 21 ,, 



7. Tah-wul-gai to Karashahr . . 22 



8. Karashahr to . . .17,, 



9. to Korla . . . 19 



Total 179 



From Taksan a twelve -mile march across the 

 plain took us to Su-bashi, a serai just at the foot of 

 a range of hills (Su means water, here represented 

 by a small well) ; and another twelve miles took us 

 to Akbulak, also consisting of a well and a serai. 

 This last twelve miles was up a very narrow gorge 

 shut in by most tremendous cliffs. Here the wind 

 fairly surpassed itself, carrying such clouds of dust 

 that it became as dark as London in a bad Novem- 

 ber fog ; but this and the shut-in nature of the place 

 made it quite cold, which was some compensation 

 for the misery of the all-pervading grit. 



