54 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ORNITHOLOGY 
a willow) growing along the course of the stream ; the elevation 
being only 13,307 feet. 
A letter arrived this afternoon from the Dad Khwah of Yar- 
kand (the Governor of that city) welcoming us into Eastern 
Turkestan. A Yuzbashi, or native Captain, is waiting to meet 
us, a march ahead of this place. 
19¢h.—Shahid-ullah. Pleasant march this morning, at first 
down the Suget valley, which debouches at right angles into the 
valley of the Karakash; then along the latter to this place, 
which is the political boundary between the possessions of the 
Maharaja of Kashmir and the territory of the Amir of Kash- 
ghar. The Karakash River looked very pretty with its green 
waters and fringe of Tamarisk and Hololachne jungle ; “after 
crossing the river once we saw the frontier fort of Shahid-ullah 
in a shingly valley to the right, our camp being prepared at a 
little distance to the left of it. A group of horsemen came 
galloping forward from the latter place, across the sandy plain, 
and forded the river just as I got to the bank of a second bend 
in the stream. The chief of the party, Yuzbashi Mohammed 
Baba, advanced and shook my hand very warmly, making a 
little speech in Turki, of which I did not understand one word. 
Fortunately a Hajji, who had come up with us from Kashmir, 
was close vy and he told me in Arabic, that the Yuzbashi had 
expressed himself delighted at the meeting, and had conveyed 
some complimentary messages sent by the Dad Khwah. I 
made a suitable reply in Ar abie which was translated to the 
Yuzbashi (Yuz, a hundred and basi, head or chief—leader of a 
hundred men or centurion), and then rode on to camp. In the 
evening I went out shooting; the hares were very scarce, but 
I bagged several Chicore (Caccabis pallidus.) 
20th.—Halt at Shahid-ulla. The elevation of this place is, 
I find, 11,732 feet ; the weather here is very delightful, 63°°7 in 
the shade at noon; the minimum temperature last night 24°. 
The journey in the mountains has, I find, touched up the skin 
of our faces, so that most of us are now peeling freely—as to 
our noses—much as if were just recovering from scarlet fever ; 
and we have all developed a decided penchané for sugar and 
sweetmeats. Great quantities of Ho/lolachne Shawiana grow 
about Shahid-ullah, in bushes sometimes about four feet high ; 
but the plant does not seem to be now in flower. 
Yesterday and to-day we have been introduced to a regular 
institution of this country—the Dastarkhwan. The ceremony 
has been described before, but as I shall have to put some 
account of it into all my letters home, I may as well write a 
few words about the business now: Kashgharia without a 
mention of the Dastarkhwan would be like Egypt without the 
