A GRAVEYARD IN THE DESERT. 173 



a different species from the ordinary Bactrian 

 camel used in the country, and bred in the hills. 



The shikari was a very intelligent, well-in- 

 formed man, and gave me much information on 

 our way to the desert. Amongst other things, 

 he pointed out a long-shaped sandhill on which 

 there was a graveyard, the origin of which no 

 one knew. I went up to look at it, and found 

 the wind had drifted the sand away, and the 

 graves were open : the skeletons were in a very 

 perfect condition, owing to the dryness of the at- 

 mosphere, and lay in various directions, the heads 

 and feet pointing all ways, which showed they 

 were not Mohammedans. There were no relics 

 to be found in the sand, except some bits of 

 rough broken pottery, which were too defaced 

 and fragmentary to convey any information as to 

 the period in which they were made. 



The pools in this part were so brackish as 

 to be quite undrinkable, only camels and jeran 

 being able to use the water. The region, con- 

 sequently, was perfectly barren, even of nomad 

 shepherds. Collecting some snow to melt off 

 the ice of one of these pools, I found it so 

 briny as to be unfit to drink indeed what we 



