THE CROSSING ACCOMPLISHED. 63 



of all to Taghdumbash Pamir, and that I had 

 travelled by this road in order that I might see 

 the Hakim Beg of Sirikul, of whose greatness and 

 kindness I had heard so much, and so on. I 

 had very nearly got through my repertoire of 

 humbug when fortunately Bower landed, and a 

 rush was made for him, and he took up the run- 

 ning, whilst I was left in peace. When he was 

 played out Dauvergne came, and so we kept our 

 friends occupied, showing them odds and ends, 

 watches, pipes, pocket-knives, &c., until, having 

 satisfied their curiosity, we thought we might as 

 well get rid of them, so suggested that the day 

 was getting on and they had a long way to go 

 home, that we would follow them to Tung as 

 soon as we had got our things across the river ; 

 and so, to our great relief, they went, with the 

 promise that we should visit them in due form 

 next day. Dauvergne crossed all his things with 

 only one turn over, which, bar getting the cargo 

 wet and tipping one of his servants into the 

 river, did no harm. Ours was a longer job, as 

 our combined kit was greater than his, and it was 

 dusk before the last load was landed and the 

 ponies across. However, we got under way as 

 quickly as possible, had a stiff climb over a cliff, 



