106 
NARRATIVE. 
On the 16th August Mr. Forsyth and I followed the 
others fifteen miles to Sanju, marching for ten miles 
along the Arpalak stream. About half-way we came 
to a village called Kizil Langar, where there was some 
cultivation, and large shady trees of willow, poplar, 
and walnut, the first grove we had seen since leaving 
Le. Chicore partridges were in great abundance, 
and I saw one Magpie. The hill crow, C. intermedius, 
also re-appeared. 
Here we found a dastarkhan laid out for us, and were 
hospitably entertained by the head man of the village. 
A few miles beyond this we left the Arpalak stream 
and travelled for four miles over a succession of low 
hills of blown sand, where almost the only vegetation 
was Calligonum comosiim. Two miles from Sanju we 
were met by Tash Khoja, a yusbashi or centurion, 
who had been sent to act as our mihmandar or host. 
He was a fine, frank, hearty fellow, and was mounted 
on a strong black Andijani charger; he carried an 
English single-barrel smooth-bore gun slung across 
his shoulder. He was accompaDied by about fifty 
Yarkandi cavalry, mounted on strong little ponies, 
and each man carried a sword and matchlock, the 
latter much like the firearms of the Kirghiz. A two- 
pronged fork, which serves as a rest, is attached near 
the muzzle, and gives the appearance of a hay-fork 
slung over the shoulder. The sandy waste seemed 
interminable, when suddenly, overstepping a low 
ridge, we came on the well-wooded and fertile valley 
of Sanju. 
Sanju is a series of villages along the banks of 
the stream we had left below Tam ; as far as irri- 
gation canals extend on either side — say about a mile 
ft 
