1 84 CHINESE TURKESTAN 



heads adorn the Mazar Tagh, two the Tarim ferry, 

 near which the crime was committed, and one the 

 gate of Khotan. 



Akbash was reached during the night of the 7th, 

 and early next morning the river began to rise 

 rapidly, making us feel rather anxious, as the 

 Karakash River had still to be crossed. It brings 

 down more water than the one from Khotan, and 

 we knew that if luck was against us we might have 

 to wait three or four days for a chance to ford it. 

 There was a considerable daily rise and fall in the 

 river, it being always lowest in the early morning 

 and rising again towards nightfall. This phenome- 

 non is, of course, common to all snow-fed streams, 

 but I should not have expected to see it so marked 

 at such a distance from the hills, and there may 

 possibly be some other explanation. 



That night we did twenty-two miles to Koshlash, 

 and forded the Karakash River just before dawn. 

 There was no time to spare, as the water was rising, 

 and the ford was full 500 yards across, being more 

 than girth deep in places. Now, at last, the road 

 to Khotan lay clear before us, and the before-men- 

 tioned risk of being delayed several days was past 

 and over, at which we rejoiced greatly, as the 

 prospect had not been a lively one, the heat, dust, 

 and mosquitoes being no inducement to linger by 

 the way. The next march we only did sixteen 

 miles, the greater part of the way being over sand- 



