SANJU TO Y ARK AND. 109 
curlal barometer to be 6570 feet above the sea, and 
the climate at this season was very mild, the ther- 
mometer rising during the day to 75° F. in the 
shade, and at night falling to 50° F. 
The dastarkhan which we found prepared for us 
at Sanju was something never to be forgotten, and 
as this was the first time we had a complete Yar- 
kandi dinner I may give a short account of the feast. 
When all w^ere seated on rugs spread round the 
table-cloth, an attendant gave us napkins, and handed 
round a copper basin, over which we all in turn 
washed our hands, whilst water was poured over 
them from a large copper jug shaped like a coffee- 
pot. First came melons, grapes, apples, pears, and 
apricots, with all sorts of jams and sweetmeats. 
One dish, much like marmalade, was composed of 
the pulp of some preserved fruits and finely-sliced 
carrots, flavoured with lemon. Another sweetmeat, 
named nislialla, was white of egg beaten up with 
grated white sugar, and much resembled the icing 
used by confectioners in England to cover cakes. 
After the fruit and sweets and a great variety of fancy 
bread and biscuits, a large tray of muntoos was 
brought in. These are a favourite dish inYarkand, 
and consist of minced mutton flavoured with onions 
and sweet herbs, enclosed in a thin film of very nicely 
made soft paste and cooked by steam. The muntoos 
were followed by ash — i.e., a baked leg of mutton 
buried in rice and carrots. This is one of the national 
dishes of the country. The Yarkand mutton is delicious, 
and although fed on grass is superior to the Indian 
mutton fed on grain. One of our entertainers acted 
as carver, and all set to work with their fingers, using 
