268 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



hills you gradually descend to a plain which extends, 

 with little variation, from the river Murghab to the 

 mountains. When, with the army of the Indus, we 

 ascended the Bolan Pass, I little thought that I should 

 penetrate through the whole of the hilly range of 

 Kohistan, and at length descend on a plain equal in 

 flatness and in extent to the plains of Hindostan. I 

 crossed the river Murghab a few miles above the 

 spot where it is lost in the desert, and before the 

 floods, caused by the melting of the snow in the 

 mountains, had subsided. The road along the Oxus 

 is travelled by the carts of the country, and grass 

 and wood are very abundant. The river is navigated 

 by boats of considerable size, and appears to be ad- 

 mirably adapted for steam navigation. In the wood 

 and grass on its banks I saw several pheasants, and 

 one wild ass. Being anxious to endeavour to fix the 

 latitude of Khiva, I commenced taking an observa- 

 tion of the altitude of the moon, but soon found 

 that I excited much suspicion. Having occasion to 

 see the Khan that evening, I put my box sextant 

 into my pocket, and the conversation as usual turn- 

 ing on the skill of Europeans in manufactures, I pro- 

 duced my instrument as a sample, and made the 

 Khan himself, much to his surprise, bring down the 

 sun and move the image of one of his courtiers about 

 from right to left. The whole court was in raptures, 

 and I was asked in plain terms to make an offering 

 of the toy to the Khan. This I promised to do 



