Across the Roof of the World. 



thougli not repeated by me since I had no desire to taste 

 anew of a beverage touched by many grimy and unwashed 

 Hps. 



I left one of my men behind here with orders to load up the 

 kit and bring it to Mintaka, a distance of five miles lower down. 

 The valley was fairly wide and open with sloping grassy sides, 

 rounded at the crest line and partaking more of the character 

 of the South Downs. 



Among the party meeting me at the foot of the Mintaka 

 Pass was a young Kirghiz shikari, Kurban by name, who 

 apparently knew all the best ground for poli, so I engaged him. 

 I decided to proceed to the Wakhijrui and Kukturuk nullahs 

 to the west, these being considered the best on the Chinese 

 Pamirs. 



At Mintaka I found a yurt had been pitched for me, the 

 walls on the inside decorated with the embroidered cloths I have 

 before referred to. These yurts, when the felt is thick and 

 free from holes, are very warm and comfortable, with plenty of 

 room inside, the average diameter being some i8 feet. Here 

 more tea, dried raisins, cakes, cream, and milk were served in 

 quantities sufficient to feed a legion. The Kirghiz are very 

 hospitable, and when one approaches their encampments, come 

 out and lead one's yak to the best yurt and produce tea. The 

 baggage arrived late in the evening, and, after making pre- 

 liminary arrangements for a move to the poli ground on the 

 morrow, I retired to enjoy a much-needed rest after the fatigues 

 of the day. 



From Mintaka I struck west to the Wakhijrui and Kukturuk 

 nullahs, following the left bank of the Karachukar River which 

 rises in the glaciers of the Mustagh Range near the Afghan 

 frontier and flows east towards Tashkurghan, through an up- 

 land valley of an average width of one and a half miles. The 

 gently sloping sides are covered with a scanty showing of grass, 

 whilst beyond lies the dark shale, so prominent a feature of the 

 higher ground. The day was brilliantly fine, the sun shining 



64 



