SUGHEIT. 243 



in furs ermine I imagine as M. Schlagentweit gave 

 Murad an acknowledgment for three hundred skins, 

 value six hundred tillahs, which was dated July 3rd, 

 1857, and written at that place : a concluding paragraph 

 states that the amount was to be paid on arrival at 

 Kokand, or, in case of the writer's death, by the govern- 

 ment treasury at Kangra. This bond is somewhat 

 obscure, as it makes some reference in favour of the 

 reverend missionaries of Lahoul, which I could not make 

 out. This is probably owing to the writer using a foreign 

 language. The party arrived at this place, Sugheit, M. 

 Schlagentweit having many attendants and several horses 

 with him ; and from this place he despatched his khan- 

 samah to Leh with his journal and letters, and, while 

 asleep at night, his property was plundered, and his 

 servants ran away, and deserted. M. Schlagentweit, it 

 would appear, had determined to personate the character 

 of a merchant, and had with him much valuable cloth, 

 and some forty horses. Over this business transaction a 

 complete mystery hangs. The probability seems that 

 M. Schlagentweit, fully aware of the difficulty of travel- 

 ling through a country reputed so barbarous and hostile 

 to Europeans as Yarkand, adopted the disguise of a 

 merchant : but the bond in question shows some trans- 

 action ostensibly undertaken on account of Government. 

 The robbery was effected with such dexterity, it would 

 appear, that it was only discovered in the morning, and 

 then reported by Murad to M. Schlagentweit who ordered 

 him to search out which way the robbers' tracks led. 

 They pointed to Kargalik, a district of Yarkand. The 

 robbery was committed in the ravine where I encamped 

 on Thursday night. M. Schlagentweit, Murad., and a 

 Yarkand servant, by name Mahomed Dahomey, and a 

 Bhooti, proceeded onwards on the Yarkand road. Ar- 



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