A DISCOVERY 213 



questions by their usual negative expressions of "I ok" 

 and " Be/dess" (" No," and " I do not know"). After 

 some hesitation we chose the latter alternative, 

 which, fortunately, proved a success ; for hardly had 

 we advanced a few miles, when we came across a 

 Chinese soldier, whom we proceeded to "commandeer" 

 as a guide, and who announced the pleasant fact that 

 we were in the vicinity of a karaott/. Although scared 

 by the number of strange faces round him, he under- 

 took to accompany us to the Chinese post, which it 

 took us scarcely an hour to reach. The valley of the 

 Sumdairik, which we followed for a few miles, re- 

 sembled, like that of the Suok, a broad, fiat steppe 

 rather than a valley. The ground at places was 

 white with Edelweiss flowers under our horses' feet, 

 elsewhere it was sandy and barren. Low undulating 

 hills rose on either side and joined at the head of the 

 stream, forming an amphitheatre, covered with larch 

 woods, at the bottom of which stood, sheltered on 

 all sides, half a dozen dirty yourts above a fairly 

 large lake. This was indeed a discovery, for my map 

 entirely ignored both the karaoul and the lake. One 

 of the yourts was slightly cleaner and larger than 

 the others, and, as usual, conspicuous by several 

 yellow flags fixed into a palisade round it. This was 

 evidently the head official's abode. As we passed the 



