THE THRESHOLD OF THE DESERT 475 
example, before the buran the minimum thermometer 
read 2i°2 Fahr. (-6° C.); during the last day of the buran 
it rose to Fahr. ( - o°4 C.), but again fell to 28°4 
Fahr. (-2° C.) and yesterday to 25=7 Fahr. ( - 3°5 C.). 
In other words, the radiation increased in proportion 
as the dust dropped back to the earth and was blown 
away. In the same way the temperature of the air rose 
in the shade at midday in proportion as the atmosphere 
cleared; thus on March 16th, 17th, and 18th respectively 
I got readings of 417 Fahr. (5°-4 C.), 45°3 Fahr. (7°4 C.), 
and 5 i° 8 Fahr. {11° C.) The quantity of dust with which 
the atmosphere was charged thus exercised considerable 
influence upon the readings of the meteorological instru- 
ments. 
On March 19th we moved over to the large village 
of Merket, on the right bank of the Yarkand-daria, whence 
the caravan was to make its start for the desert. In the 
morning a number of the inhabitants of Merket came to 
escort us to their village. The beg, Mehemmed Niaz Beg, 
arrived with a present of chickens, eggs, and dastarkhan 
(light refreshments). He was a tall man, with a thin 
white beard, and looked energetic and severe. Transport 
horses were employed to carry over our baggage ; and 
after the on-bashi of Lailik and his pretty wife, who had 
both been very kind and hospitable during my stay in 
their house, had been well rewarded with money and cloth, 
we marched dowm to the ferry, which conveyed us and 
our large caravan across in four trips. T he ice had 
evidently ceased to melt farther to the south, for the river 
had fallen eleven inches since March 8th ; and from this 
time onwards it would continue to sink, until the summer 
floods came down from the mountains. 
After a quarter of an hour’s ride in a south-easterly 
direction, we passed the village of Anghetlik, w'hich 
received its irrigation water from an eastern branch of the 
Yarkand-daria. At the end of an hour we reached the 
village of Chamgurluk, and after another three-quarters 
of an hour were in Merket. The beg placed his own 
house at my disposal, and I was soon installed in a large 
