110 
NARRATIVE. 
cakes of bread instead of plates. We made an attempt 
to follow their example, but were so awkward that our 
knives and forks were sent for. This was the first 
and last time we attempted to follow the Yarkandi 
fashion of dispensing with knives and forks. After 
the ash came soup, called " su asJi' or su-l-ashy — i.e., 
watery ash. It is simply rice and minced mutton of 
the consistence of thick soup, and is eaten with 
wooden spoons. It will be seen that the order in 
which the dishes were served was just the reverse of 
ours. During our stay in Yarkand we were con- 
stantly feasted in this way, and we considered it 
rather a fortunate circumstance that the Y'^arkandi 
dinners and all their cooking arrangements were so 
well managed and so unobjectionable. A boy was 
told off to make tea for us. He kept a teapot con- 
stantly replenished, and every now and then when he 
found that our cups were empty, he refilled them. 
The Yarkandi teacups are equal to about three of our 
breakfast cups, and are made of china, or of earthen- 
ware imported from Europe, for, with the exception 
of the bowls of hookas and flower-pots, I saw no 
earthenware of Yarkand manufacture. A few vessels 
of porcelain left by the Chinese are still to be had in 
Yarkand, but they are getting rather scarce and very 
high-priced, and most of those we saw offered for 
sale were more or less damaged. 
After dinner Mr. Forsyth gave presents of dresses 
and turbans to a number of the Yarkand officials who 
had come to receive us. At first they made a great 
fuss about taking these, and only accepted them after 
much pressure. This we found was the correct 
etiquette. In the afternoon I took some photographs 
