Disappearance of Rasul. 



had gone. I did not suspect foul play as he was accompanied 

 by two of the levies, and the Kazaks, though a distinctly lawless 

 set of people, would hardly dare to molest him, seeing I possessed 

 written authorities from the Viceroy and other high officials 

 which would certainly cause stringent enquiries to be instituted 

 should anything untoward occur. The Chinese are slow at the 

 best of times, but once the wheels of justice are set moving 

 the results are inclined to be a little indiscriminate, a possible 

 eventuality of which the nomads were doubtless well aware. 



I sent off two more of the levies during the day with a mission 

 to try and discover Rasul, but I had reason to believe they merely 

 went to the next group of auls and sat tight until the evening, when 

 they returned with the report that no trace could be found of the 

 missing ones. I was not certain that they had not gone forth 

 properly as instructed, but my suspicions were based on good 

 grounds, though, not wishing to upset them in any way, I wisely 

 refrained from making any observations on the subject, and 

 reserved any sarcastic remarks for a later date. 



There was nothing to do during the day, so to prevent myself 

 becoming stiff and frozen, I strolled forth with a sack and col- 

 lected fuel, the hois de vache as it is known in Switzerland, a hvely 

 occupation for a mighty hunter ! 



On the morning of November 30th, as there was still no sign 

 of Rasul, I decided to go on with the same lot of horses at any 

 rate as far as Yamatu, which is situated on the main road 

 running from Urumchi to Chuguchak, and the route by which 

 communication is maintained with the northern part of Dzun- 

 garia and Chinese Turkistan. There, should Rasul not have by 

 that time rejoined me, I intended conducting a search, leaving 

 the caravan to await my return. 



Yamatu lay in a north-easterly direction through the low-lying 

 hills, though the exact track thereto was unknown to any of us, 

 so it became necessary to obtain a guide, which, after an immense 

 amount of trouble, I succeeded in doing, engaging the services 

 of a young Kazak who professed to know the road. 



331 



