5o6 THE KARLIK TAGH 



He had evidently been told to show off the beauties of 

 his master's possessions, having already led us around 

 the Khan's old country-seat with an enthusiasm that 

 would have done justice to any professional showman. 



For the twelve miles of mountain which lay between 

 Ara-tam and the settlements on the middle Bardash there 

 was neither room nor facility for human occupation, but 

 later in the day we came to a place where the hills 

 receded, the valley-floor widened, and men had space to 

 cultivate. In these secluded upper valleys, such as the 

 Bardash, the Taghliks, or mountaineers, lived a peaceful 

 existence. Their settlements were scattered, and the 

 villages never large, their size depending entirely on the 

 amount of land left at their disposal by somewhat harsh 

 physical conditions. Most valleys supported but one 

 village ; only in the Narin Valley, where two rivers united 

 before breaking through the outer-range, were there 

 several villages and a considerable extent of cultivation. 

 Often, too, we came across isolated groups of three or four 

 farmsteads located in a place where the nature of the 

 country afforded only such an area of cultivatable land 

 as to just support them. Every available patch of 

 ground was made use of, and I do not believe there are 

 many spare acres on the mountains. With an increasing 

 population, the land available for cultivation does not 

 increase, and, since the Khan forbids emigration, there is 

 ** overcrowding " in the pleasant valleys of the " snowy " 

 range. 



After the impoverished aspect of the plains these high 

 valleys seemed pleasant enough. We rode through fields 

 which had been cleared — with infinite labour — of rocks, 

 and crossed brooks of clearest water margined by dainty 

 willows. Chukar and brown partridges called from the 



