452 
THROUGH ASIA 
in a square dark room decorated with flags, tughs (rags), 
deers’ antlers, and the horns of wild sheep. The shrine, 
together with its gumbez (dome), was built of kiln-burnt 
bricks, and was visited every Friday by pilgrims from the 
neighbourhood. In the outer court there was an ashbaz- 
kkaneh, or kitchen, where they cook their food. 
We took up our quarters in a hospitable house in the 
kishlak of Masar-alldi (In Front of the Saint’s Tomb), 
and were at once visited by the dignitaries of the place. 
I got a good deal of valuable information out of them. 
For instance, they told me that in that part of its course 
the Yarkand-daria was divided into two arms, and went 
on to describe three very large lakes situated in the 
neighbourhood, which not only increased in size when the 
river was in flood, but also abounded in fish. I was 
especially interested to learn that the Masar-tagh con- 
tinued in a south - easterly direction through the desert 
as far as the Khotan-daria ; though the information seemed 
on the whole to be doubtful, as none of the men had 
themselves seen how far the mountains extended into the 
desert. 
Some of them called the desert Dekken-dekka, because 
a thousand and one towns are said to be buried under its 
wastes of sand. Moreover vast stores of silver and gold 
might be found in them. It was possible to reach them 
with camels ; and probably water would be found in the 
depressions. 
February 26th. It was now my object to obtain a 
general idea of the Masar-tagh. Accordingly we took 
a guide, and drove along their eastern foot in the arba, 
having on our left a marsh, shut in by barren sand-hills. 
After a three hours’ drive we reached the Kodai-daria (the 
Swan River), the northern branch of the Yarkand-daria, 
a good hundred and twenty yards broad, and covered with 
soft ice, which bore men on foot, but broke under the 
weight of the arba. The boat which the Dolons used 
when the river was high was frozen fast in the ice. In 
summer, when the river is in flood, enormous volumes 
of water flow through both branches, causing them to 
