THE RIVER TARIM. 167 



that being something of a shikari himself, he 

 would take me to the best places for game. Ac- 

 cordingly we started for Khotan Kama, where 

 he lived, about twenty miles away. On the way 

 he suggested a hunt for* jeran with a trained 

 eagle which he had with him, but we found 

 none. Then he proposed, after our arrival, to 

 have a deer-drive in the forest ; but after trot- 

 ting me about here, there, and everywhere 

 without any result, I came to the conclusion 

 he merely wanted to detain me at his village, 

 so told him I could waste no more time. 



After Khotan Kama the country was quite 

 wild, without any signs of cultivation or habita- 

 tion. The junction of the Aksu and Khotan 

 rivers with the Yarkand river occurs here, and 

 from this point change their names for that of the 

 river Tarim, which runs nearly due east until it 

 empties itself into Lobnor. Near Khotan Kama 

 a ferry crosses the Tarim and connects the road 

 from Khotan to Aksu, which is a good deal used 

 by caravans carrying rice from one town to the 

 other. 



For the twenty-four miles of jungle through 

 which we tramped my shikari kept his eagle on 

 his wrist, but it was not until we got to our 



