THROUGH ASIA 
396 
the place is also called Ballk-masar (the Shrine of the 
Fish). Several springs gushed out of the ground on 
the northern side of the valley, and converged upon a 
small pool about ten feet deep and twenty yards or so 
in diameter. The water was a deep blue colour, con- 
stantly varying its tints, but always crystal clear, and 
with a temperature of 39°2 Fahr. (4°C.). Up and down 
it swam a number of fat fish, about a foot long and 
with black backs. From the culinary point of view, they 
looked particularly tempting ; we therefore made a long 
halt beside the pool for the purpose of catching some 
of them. We had neither rod nor tackle. Still what 
mattered that? With the help of some pack-thread, and 
the hook of a Swedish watch-chain, and a piece of mutton 
for a bait, we soon hauled up three “beauties.’’ After 
we reached camp, the men fried them in yak butter for 
supper, and anticipated a splendid dish. But, alas ! our 
hopes were dashed ; the fish were uneatable, having a 
rank disagreeable flavour. Yolldash however relished 
them ; though he apparently regretted his excesses later 
on, to judge by the dismal howling he kept up all night. 
On the left bank of the Alichur river we rode past 
a simple grave, surrounded by a .stone wall. It was the 
burial-place of seven Afghan soldiers, who fell two years 
previously in a skirmish with the Russians. Some rags 
of felt and the poles of the tent they had lived in still 
remained. We took some of the latter to make our fire 
of, in spite of Yehim Bai’s protests, that it was sacrilege 
to plunder a grave. 
The night of September 2nd we spent at the rabat 
(rest-house) of Sumeh, which consisted of three gumbez 
(hive-shaped towers), built by Abdullah Khan of Bokhara ; 
and on the following morning we visited a hot sulphurous 
spring, which issued from the ground in the neighbour- 
hood, with a temperature of 141°! Fahr. (6o°6 C.). In 
the same place we also inspected a cube-shaped Chinese 
tamga-tash (seal stone) or inscribed stone, showing that 
there was a time when the Chinese considered themselves 
masters of the Pamirs. On its upper face there was a 
