SANJU TO T ARK AND. 
117 
The houses were all of mud or sun-dried bricks, and 
only one story high. The streets were in many 
places covered with trellis work, on which vines and 
gourds were trained to give shade during summer. 
There were crowds of well-dressed people in the streets, 
who were remarkably polite, and salaamed as we 
passed, not in the Indian fashion, but by placing the 
hands flat on the stomach and slowly bending forwards. 
The people seem fond of gardening and flowers, for I 
noticed, attached to the houses, many flower-gardens, 
in which roses predominated. On the roofs of the 
houses, also, boxes of asters, marigolds, and balsamis 
were common. At the end of the town we passed a 
gallows, with pulleys for three malefactors ; it was 
placed in a very prominent situation, just at the end 
of the principal street. It is said to be chiefly used 
for thieves^ who are first suspended by the neck, and 
then have their throats cut ; political offenders have 
the privilege of having their throats cut without 
being hanged as well. Our camp was pitched in a 
fine grove of walnut-trees near the town. As we 
neared Yarkand, the dastarkhans increased in bulk 
and quality, for about four horse-loads of fruit were 
here waiting us. Other signs of preparation for our 
reception also appeared, in the shape of chairs and 
tables of the most quaint construction — the tables 
being only a foot from the ground, whilst the seats of 
some of the chairs were three feet high. A series of 
attempts seemed to have been made by different 
artists to construct a proper chair, and the result was 
most ludicrous, for each chair was built on an entirely 
different plan. In the afternoon hundreds of sick 
came to my tent. The majority were cases of goitre, 
