CHINESE FORT AT MARALBASHI. 155 



my rifle as I went, just in time to see a very fair 

 stag galloping away like mad ! 



Hearing that there were a great many more 

 stags in the jungles beyond Maralbashi, and hav- 

 ing had two days without results, I decided to 

 change my ground to that place, where I hoped 

 either to meet or hear from Bower. The wind 

 was intensely cold : I could not ride a yard, but 

 had to walk every inch of the twenty miles to 

 keep myself warm. 



The Yangi Hissar at Maralbashi is a fine 

 bastioned fort, well planned and executed, square 

 in shape, and I reckoned each face to be a quarter 

 of a mile. To the south of this lay the old town, 

 consisting of one street with very fair- looking 

 shops and dwelling-houses. I had sent a man on 

 to warn the authorities of my advent, so that I 

 might find some place ready to go to. This is 

 always necessary in a town in Turkistan. In a 

 village it does not signify, as you ride straight in 

 and select the house that pleases you best : the 

 villagers are so civil and hospitable that they are 

 always delighted to put you up. The townspeople 

 are just the reverse, however, and unless some 

 Beg or big man hears of your coming and pre- 

 pares a place for you, there is nothing for it but 



