46 JOURNEY TO THE PAMIRS. 



from Kugiar, the first place of importance on the 

 Turkistan plain. Here, he said, was a Chinese 

 karaol, or frontier post, but that we had better 

 camp where we were, and that he would supply 

 us with fuel, eggs, milk, and fowls, and our 

 ponies would find lots of grazing on the edge 

 of the little canal which irrigated the few fields 

 which surrounded the village. This canal, on 

 exploration, we found started from a spring at 

 the foot of the poplar we had first sighted. 



The mist was thicker than ever, so we could 

 get no view of the country ahead rather a dis- 

 appointment, for after travelling so long amongst 

 high mountains, a view of a plain is always a 

 pleasant change to the eye, even if it be a desert, 

 as by all accounts this was. 



We pitched our camp in a little grove of 

 apricot-trees, and in a short time our friend from 

 the village turned up with the promised supplies, 

 the eggs and fowls being especially welcome 

 after the hard fare on which we had been for the 

 last month. We determined to halt the next 

 day, for as we had travelled from Shahidula 

 without a pause, we considered that both our- 

 selves and our beasts were entitled to the 

 rest. 



