222 TKAVEL, ADVENTUEE, AND SPORT. 



and write the names of the slaves, of their relatives, 

 and the people who sold them. They had been sold, 

 it appeared, by the Jumsheedees and Hazarehs. I 

 had no power to release these poor creatures; and, 

 had I taken upon myself to do so, I should most 

 probably have defeated the object of my mission, 

 which will amongst other things, I hope, lead to the 

 cessation in toto of this most detestable traffic. Had 

 I turned the poor children loose, they would soon 

 have been retaken. We let the party therefore go, 

 and passed them again about three miles from the 

 river. Both the females and the smallest of the boys 

 were mounted on the camels. I trust that this 

 humane arrangement was not made merely while I 

 was passing. My party could not be restrained from 

 showering curses on the Turkomans, and Fazil Khan 

 begged me with moist eyes to release the slaves. We 

 moved this night twenty-two miles ; plenty of wood 

 and grass along the road, which is generally good, 

 thoxigh there are some steep sandy ascents. The 

 valley of the Murghab, along which we are now 

 moving, is narrow, and bounded by sandhills, which 

 are covered with bushes of camel-thorn and other 

 stunted herbs. The valley itself has a fine soil, and 

 has been highly cultivated in former years, but it is 

 now deserted. Stopped to sleep and feed the cattle 

 for a few hours, and started a little after sunrise. 

 Passed a place called Sundook Koochan. Connected 

 with this spot is a tradition viz., " That once upon 



