45° 
THROUGH ASIA 
and considered that my plan of crossing the Takla-makan 
Desert was feasible. They told me, that there once 
existed a large town called Takla-makan in the desert 
midway between the Yarkand-daria and the Khotan- 
daria ; but for ages it had been buried in the sand. The 
whole of the desert was now known by this name, although 
it was sometimes shortened to Takan. They reported 
further, that the interior of the desert was under the ban 
of teles7nat (an Arabic word, meaning- “ witchcraft,” 
“supernatural powers”); and that there were towers and 
walls and houses, and heaps of gold tacks and silver 
jambaus (tack and jambau being Chinese coins). If a 
man went there with a caravan and loaded his camels 
with gold, he would never get out of the desert again ; 
but be kept there by the spirits. In that case there was 
only one way by which he could .save his life, and that 
was by throwing away the treasure. The beg'S thought 
that, if 1 followed the Masar-tagh as far as I possibly 
could, and took a supply of water with me, it would be 
possible to cross the desert. But under no circumstances 
could horses cross it ; they would certainly die. 
