RETURN JOURNEY. 
145 
before — in fact, we were treated with more respect 
when leaving than we had been on our arrival. 
Every day Mr. Forsyth received a letter from the 
Dad Khwah, inquiring after our welfare, and these 
letters were always accompanied by a present ; one 
day some silver ornaments, another day some horses. 
At Kargallik we met the Mir Sahib, who had a 
doleful tale to relate of the hardships his party had 
undergone after we left them at Lak Zung. At 
Sanju ten pack-horses formed the present. These 
delicate attentions, and the unbounded hospitality we 
received throughout our stay in the country, could 
not fail to leave a very good impression on our minds 
regarding the kindly feelings of the Yarkand rulers 
towards us and our Government. 
The Sanju river was very much reduced in size, 
and we followed it up to Tam instead of going 
round by the Chu Chu pass. The march from 
Sanju to near Tam, about thirty-five miles, occupied 
us from sunrise until nine o'clock at night ; it was 
one of the most trying marches I ever made, for the 
route lay along the bottom of a deep gorge, in the 
bed of a torrent, which had to be crossed and re- 
crossed every half-mile. When halting about mid- 
day at the village of Kibris, the villagers brought 
us some delicious "Devonshire" cream, which could 
hardly be distinguished from the genuine article. 
Here I came on fossiliferous rocks, which are shown 
in the section of the country already given. 
By 9 P.M. we had got many miles ahead of all our 
baggage, and it was too dark to proceed farther ; we 
therefore lighted a fire, and bivouacked for the night 
in the open, a tin of soup serving for dinner. Pre- 
L 
