^ HILL Y ARK AND. 93 
To-day I saw a horse belonging to the Yarkandis 
drop exhausted on the road, and as he seemed nn- 
lijiely to recover, the owner at once cut his throat, to 
render the flesh eatable by any true believer who 
might follow us : the Yarkandis eat horseflesh. Pieces 
of the skin were taken ofl* to repair shoes, and then a 
number of slices of the best meat were cut out and 
stuck on the bushes near, to allow them to dry, and 
thus be preserved for future travellers. Along the 
road from Le to Yarkand we saw numbers of dead 
yaks and horses, completely mummified, for the ex- 
cessively dry air in such a cold climate produces desic- 
cation before putrefaction has advanced very far. We 
saw no vultures, and only once noticed what appeared 
to be the footprints of a fox or jackal. Most of the 
carcases strewn along the route had evidently not been 
touched by any wild animals. 
On August 4th we marched twelve miles to Ba- 
lakchi. The thermometer last night did not fall lower 
than 44° F., and for several days rose to 70° F. under 
an awning during the day. 
We had to ford the river soon after starting. This 
was a matter of considerable difficulty, not only on 
account of fche depth of the water and force of the 
current, but from the existence of quicksands. 
These are common along the whole course of the river, 
and on seven occasions my horse sank in one of them 
up to the girths of the saddle, in places where the water 
was only a foot deep. More of the Kirghiz, with a 
drove of yaks, met us to-day. They all came up and 
shook hands with us in the most familiar and aflec- 
tionate manner, stroking their beards and repeating, 
" Alia ho Akbar They stopped all our baggage 
