Acros.s the Roof of the World. 



it brings in its wake. The meanest thing is to them a nine days' 

 wonder, and the passing of the " Feringhi " from regions beyond 

 their ken is the event of a hfetime. No parhaments occupy 

 their attention, no Press sway their opinions, no suffragettes 

 exhibit their importunities. They till the soil, guard their 

 flocks and return at night free from care and worry. With them 

 the struggle for existence is reduced to a minimum, and content 

 in their humble surroundings they heed not the passing of empires 

 and the onward march of progress. 



I had now descended to an elevation of 6,000 feet, en- 

 countering a land of trees and cultivation and the warmth of an 

 English summer day. How restful it all seemed and what an air 

 of serenity it bore after the vast Pamirs and the regions of eternal 

 snow, where it is but a white expanse, dark moraines, and the 

 whistle of an Arctic blast. I was weary of those uplands and the 

 intense cold, weary of the numerous high passes, of the bleak 

 camps in that inhospitable region. North Polar in its severity, so 

 determined to march hard for Yarkand and Kashgar, more con- 

 genial climes. Though I did not camp till 7 o'clock I left the next 

 morning at five, and with a change of good ponies, continued to 

 break records. ■ Ten miles beyond camp a twenty-mile strip of 

 desert had to be crossed to reach Khan Langur, on the Yarkand 

 River. 



Unfortunately a hurricane was blowing and by 9 o'clock 

 a tremendous dust storm was in full swing, the force of it at 

 times making travel an impossibility, so there was nothing to do 

 but turn the horses round and sit down covered with coats and rugs 

 to avoid the stinging of driving sand. Never had I encountered 

 anything resembling it, the strong wind whirling up the sand 

 and grit and blinding us, forming on all sides a darkness which 

 was often profound. These dust storms are of frequent occurrence 

 in Turkistan, due to the desert and level nature of the country. 



At Khan Langur I rested in the house of the local Beg, where 

 Nadir picked stones and lumps of dirt out of my eyes. The 

 baggage animals came in at 6 o'clock, having had a very poor time, 



