442 
THROUGH ASIA 
threw himself on the ground under the wheels, declaring 
that the dog was his, and demanding that he should be 
given up to him. To pacify the fellow, I agreed that 
Hamrah should be let loose and kept back. If he then 
followed the Chinaman, the dog was his ; but if he 
follow'ed us, he was ours. No sooner was the dog untied 
than he set off as fast as his legs could carry him along 
the road, and disappeared in a cloud of dust. The 
valorous Chinaman looked very much crestfallen, and 
slunk away amid roars of laughter from the crow’d. 
The day was dull and cold and disagreeable ; the sky 
gloomy ; the air still, but filled with a thick dust-haze, 
which obscured the view. A dense cloud of dust, caused 
by the great amount of traffic which passed up and down, 
hung in the willows that lined the road. 
At this season of the year the Kizil-su had hardly any 
current ; what little there was was frozen under the double 
bridge. After passing it we turned to the east, and thus 
had the river on our left. It was nine o’clock at night 
when we reached the village of Yaman-yar (the Miserable 
Place), having driven the last two or three hours in pitch 
darkness. We ourselves turned in in a rest-house, but the 
two arabakeskes (arba drivers) slept each in his own vehicle, 
so as to protect my baggage against thieves. 
On February i8th we drove through a number of small 
villages as far as Faizabad (the Abode of Blessedness), 
the chief town on the road between Maral-bashi and 
Kashgar. It happened to be bazaar-day, and the narrow 
streets were thronged with an unusually busy crowd, 
resplendent in colour. The inhabitants of the neighbour- 
ing villages resort to the place once a week to lay in a 
supply of provisions. On the way thither we met or 
overtook numbers of wayfarers, some on foot, some on 
horseback, conveying to market various kinds of country 
produce, such as sheep, goats, poultry, fruit, hay, fuel, 
wooden household utensils, etc. The long bazaar echoed 
with the shouting and din of the multitude, as they 
pushed their way up and down it, squabbling with the 
stall-keepers, whilst the vendors vociferously cried up 
