228 KASHGAR TO THE KARAART PAMIR. 



to return to India through Shighnan, Badakshan, 

 and Chitral, or go to England via Russian Turk- 

 istan and the Caspian, that was the question. 



I had made arrangements for a Russian pass- 

 port before I left Kashmir, on the chance of want- 

 ing to follow the latter route, and whichever way 

 I went, I should require another lot of ponies ; so 

 while making up my mind on the subject, I sent 

 off Mahomed Atta to Yarkand with the present 

 lot, and to bring back a fresh string of them in 

 exchange. This would take him ten to twelve 

 days. Meantime I intended to have a thorough 

 rest and enjoy a little dolce far niente, feeling de- 

 servedly entitled to it after my winter's labours. 



My tent was pitched in the garden of Bower's 

 residence, on a platform under a grove of trees, 

 an ideal place for a tent in hot weather, and for 

 the first two days of my arrival it was so ; but on 

 the third day a violent dust storm blew up, fol- 

 lowed by rain and thunder, which cooled the air 

 considerably. Had it not been for the agreeable 

 society of our friends at the Consulate, I must 

 own we should have been bored to death. Ex- 

 cepting a ride in the morning, and a walk in the 

 evening, our days were utterly without incident. 

 Perhaps it was this that helped me to form my 



