DEPARTURE FROM YARKAND. 141 



so rough and uneven that the leaders were 

 often on one path and the wheeler on another 

 in fact, had to go all over the place as best 

 they could. 



In parting with Mahomed Unis and the Kash- 

 miri Aksakal, we presented each with a robe of 

 honour of good English broadcloth, placing it, 

 after the Eastern custom, on their shoulders, 

 which piece of attention pleased them greatly. 

 We felt very grateful to these good people for 

 all their civility, and wished we could have given 

 them some adequate return in the way of a 

 present. Money we could not give, for fear of 

 offending them. 



After many touching farewells, Bower and I 

 started, going together as far as the first stage 

 on the road to Maralbashi. Here we parted 

 on the 25th of November. 



My way lay through a cultivated country 

 irrigated by canals, with hamlets and orchards 

 dotted about. The first curiosity were the mile- 

 stones, which are found on all the main roads. 

 These consist of pyramids of mud bricks 20 feet 

 high, which are placed about two and a half 

 miles apart. As it struck me that the inter- 

 vals varied a good deal, I inquired the reason, 



