HILL Y ARK AND. 
106 
kandis drink enormous quantities of very weak green 
tea, without sugar or milk. 
At this first visit Kasim Akhund would not 
converse very freely ; at a first visit I believe 
much conversation on the part of the visitor is not 
considered polite. When all have helped them- 
selves and have declined to take any more of the 
good things, a servant is asked to remove them ; 
and until this is done, but not before, it is not polite 
of the visitors to depart. After the trays have been 
removed, every one assists in picking up the crumbs 
and placing them in the table-cloth, for it is consi- 
dered very wrong to leave the smallest crumb of 
bread where it may be trodden under foot ; then, the 
moment the table-cloth is taken up, all the visitors, 
stroking their beards and saying "Alia ho Akbar," 
suddenly rise and disappear out of the tent, the object 
of the apparent haste being to prevent the host taking 
the trouble of rising to say " Good-bye." 
On the 15th August our Yarkandi companies marched 
to Sanju, accompanied by Mr. Shaw. A letter was 
expected from the Governor of Yarkand, and arrived 
that evening. The Kazi Sahib had remarked that it 
was certain not to contain any information which could 
give us any excuse for delay, and when it did arrive 
the Kazi's prediction was verified. Orientals never 
commit themselves in written documents, and ques- 
tions which are unpleasant to answer are simply 
ignored, or are answered in such a flourish of high- 
flown phrases that no meaning can be made out of 
the answer. The Dad Khwah stated that the war 
was over, and that he hoped the King would be back 
in time to receive Mr. Forsyth's visit. 
