HILL Y ARK AND. 
103 
At Kitcllik Yilak I took some photographs of the 
Kirghiz encampment, but Mr. Forsyth was politely 
informed by Mirza Shadi, that without special orders 
from the King, I could not be allowed to take any 
more pictures in Yarkand territory. 
On August 10th we marched twelve miles to 
Tam. The first four miles was over grassy downs, 
then along the banks of the stream which, lower 
down, becomes the Sanju river. This stream is 
fringed by a jungle of Tamarisk, Willow, and Buck- 
thorn, and there is plenty of grass. At Tam we 
came to the first signs of cultivation — a few huts 
and one solitary poplar-tree, which, being the first 
tree we had seen for some weeks, we all halted to 
stare at, much to the amusement of the inhabi- 
tants. 
On the 11th August we continued our march down 
the stream, crossing and recrossing many times. 
Just below Tam the river flows through a narrow 
defile about 100 feet wide, where we saw the re- 
mains of a wall and fort which had been built across 
the gorge by the Chinese, to protect themselves 
against the inhabitants of the hills. The Chinese, I 
believe, only occupied the plains, and, except at the 
jade mines, never laid claim to any of the hilly 
country. The Sanju river was now too deep to ford 
below this point, so we made a detour up a valley to 
the right, and next day crossed the Chu Chu pass to 
the banks of the Arpalak river, which flows to the 
east of the Sanju stream. Up to the top of the pass 
the hills were rounded to a height of 11,000 feet above 
the sea, and at least 4000 feet above the Yarkand plains, 
and the surface was composed of a clay deposit. The 
