394 
THROUGH ASIA 
spread out his clothes to dry on a hill-side facing the sun. 
As I had no inordinate desire for a bath, I waited until 
the three camels came up, which were carrying our 
baggage, and climbing on to the tallest of them, managed 
to reach the opposite bank without getting a stitch wet. 
A KIRC.IIIZ GIRL 
As soon as Captain Saitseff’s clothes were dry, we 
continued our journey, reaching the entrance to the valley 
of Ak-alkhar at dusk. There we encamped in the shelter 
of a huge isolated rock that stuck up out of the ground. 
Captain Saitseff had brought a good dinner with him, 
including a couple of bottles of claret ; and by the light 
of coloured Chinese lanterns and a blazing camp-fire, we 
