NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 35 



" The morning broke clear and fine, the mist and clouds hiving rolled 

 off, and when I looked out the most lovely view greeted my eyes of the 

 Tian Shan range, towering aloft full 24,000 ft., the immense height being 

 doubly emphasised by the whiteness of the surrounding country, glistening 

 with freshly fallen snow. The Beg had promised to come early and bring 

 the Shikari with him, but he had been sent for in the night by the Dotai, 

 to answer for the life of a man who had been found dead in the snow. 

 However, later in the day, the Yulbeggie of the district appeared, saying he 

 had been sent by the Beg to do my business, and that being something of a 

 Shikari himself, he would take me to the best places for game. Accordingly 

 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 trotting 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 Khama the country was quite wild, without any signs of 

 cultivation or habitation. 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 

 the 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 

 camping-ground, when he went off by himself to have a last look round, 

 that he had any success, returning with a doe Jeran Antelope. I was 

 anxious to see the Eagle work, and as I could see nothing of a stag, 

 went off with the Yulbeggie in the afternoon to try for another Jeran. 1 

 was mooning along, thinking of something else, when all of a sudden the 

 Yulbeggie started off as hard as he could gallop across the maidan. I 

 followed suit, and soon made out a doe Jeran in the distance. It stood 

 and looked at us in amazement, and then cantered off, not very fast, while 

 we still continued our headlong career, every now and then floundering on 

 to our noses over a tussock of grass, or into a hole hidden by the snow, 

 until we got about a hundred yards from our game, which only then 

 realised the situation and extended its stride. The shikari now hurled the 

 Eagle, which he had unhooked and held clasped to his breast during the 

 run, at the Jeran. The Eagle, instead of rising like a Falcon and 

 swooping at its prey, flapped along with its great wings close to the ground ; 

 and although it seemed to fly very slowly, gradually caught up the Jeran, 

 which was impeded in its course by the high grass, and at last grabbed it 

 by the rump with its strong talons. It regularly dragged the deer down, 



