60 JOURNEY TO THE PAMIRS. 



chogas, with gold-laced lungis or turbans on their 

 heads. They had come down to receive us in 

 due form. Barat said he knew them all, and told 

 us that when we interviewed the Hakim Beg we 

 must be careful not to excite him in any way, for 

 he was rather mad, and inclined to be violent at 

 times. He had on several occasions killed people 

 on the spur of the moment in a fit of passion ; 

 and on no account should we give him a loaded 

 revolver, as he might try its effects on some un- 

 fortunate individual ! 



We found our raft ready, and the Mullahs who 

 were to conduct it across in attendance, so set 

 to work to load it for the first trip. It seemed 

 rather a frail craft for the work, formed of a 

 dozen inflated goatskins, lashed together by a 

 slight frame of green willow - poles on the top. 

 On this frame were placed four molis, or pack- 

 saddles, which are stuffed with dry grass, and 

 made a very good floor to the raft, and on it we 

 put our first consignment of cargo, about 220 Ib. 

 weight. These we lashed down securely with 

 ropes, and a man was told off to sprawl over the 

 top and keep all as snug as possible. When we 

 launched our raft, we soon found the use of the 

 floor of molts, as the raft swam pretty deep when 



