any botanizing be pursued. On the journeys over land we were generally on 

 the move from sunrise till nightfall, and the caravans advancing quickly, 

 a botanist would soon have been left behind if he had attempted to gather 

 other plants than those growing quite near the route. -Nor was it advisable to be left 

 too far behind, as a straggler in many cases might easily lose his way, straying into one 

 of the many paths made by wandering wild beasts in the process of time. The traveller 

 is also as a rule under the necessity of following these paths on a journey through this 

 country. The plants which might be collected in this way in the course of the day, had 

 to be subjected to pressure, and shifted into dry paper in the evening, in a narrow tent 

 only sparingly lighted up by means of a tallow-candle. Especially in the higher and 

 moister regions it was often rather difficult to get the sheets of paper dried, and preserve 

 the plants already prepared, in spite of careful packing in canvas bags. 



A foreign botanist may also meet with unlooked for difficulties here on the part 

 of the natives. According to their superstition the earth is sacred, and any digging in 

 it is considered to be a great sin, and such a violation is therefore very severely punished. 

 This circumstance may also possibly account for the fact that they do not bury their 

 dead in the ground. Accordingly, a short time after my arrival, the natives began to 

 look upon my botanical undertakings with suspicion. Knowing nothing about this, I 

 used every now and then my long Russian knife for rooting out plants in the presence 

 of the whole tribe. It was therefore no wonder that the natives got excited, and for the 

 bad weather and other calamities occurring just at that time. I was held responsible. 

 In spite of their respect for ourselves and our weapons, I was finally, when at last my 

 misdoing had passed beyond all bounds to such an extent that I had not even shrunk 

 from violating one of their holy plants, in a very defiant manner, summoned before 

 the great chief of the tribe — the «Nojon» — and requested for an explanation. At 

 the same time the great old shaman of the place threatened to let loose against 

 us all the evil spirits, if we were not willing to apologize at once and do 

 everything in our power to reconcile the great spirits. Under these circumstances it 

 would have been unadvisable to stir up the public opinion any longer, the more so one 

 of the chief objects of our expedition also being to procure ethnographical material and 

 information concerning this interesting race, for which reason it was necessary to gain 

 their confidence. There was accordinly no alternative but making amends for my 

 crime, promising to adopt a better line of conduct for the future. After this adventure 

 there was some difficulty for me to make my appearance with my disreputable bota- 

 nical case, and when undertaking botanical excursions later on, I had to steal out secretly, 

 and gather plants in my pockets, in paper bags, telescope cases, etc. We were also 

 several times afterwards followed by natives, who had evidently been charged by their 

 dignitaries to watch our conduct. Other travellers in central Asia also tell of having been 

 escorted in a similar way by the natives. 



As a matter of course it is out of the question to give here an exhaustive botanical 

 survey, and only a contribution to the knowledge of the vegetation of these regions is 



