532 
THROUGH ASIA 
restless onward movement keep pouring over them and 
covering them up. 
When morning came, I made a most unwelcome 
discovery. I had noticed the day before how the water 
washed very noisily to and fro in the water-tanks, and 
I looked into them to ascertain the cause. They con- 
tained only water' enough to last tzvo days ! I asked the 
men why they had not obeyed my instructions, and put 
in sufficient water to last ten days. They answered that 
Yollchi was responsible for the quantity of water brought. 
When I reproached Yollchi, he answered, “We might 
be perfectly easy ; for it was merely a four days’ journey 
from the last of the desert lakes to the place where we 
could get water by digging for it.” This statement agreed 
with the maps I had. Consequently I relied upon the 
man, all the more since his information hitherto had in- 
variably turned out to be correct. We were all without 
exception convinced, that we were every bit as near to 
water by going east as by going west ; consequently 
nobody said a word about going back to the last of the 
desert lakes. And yet what suffering, what loss, what 
sorrow would have been spared both to ourselves and 
to others, who were anxious about our fate, if we had 
retraced our steps to that little desert lake ! However 
we all agreed to watch over the water we had, and 
husband it like gold. Privately, I instructed Islam Bai 
not to let the two water-tanks out of his sight for a single 
moment. From that morning the camels never got a 
drop more water to drink. 
1 hanks to the dust-haze, the air remained beautifully 
cool. The crests of the dunes gleamed out of the gloom 
like fantastic ghosts, yellow dolphins with arched backs, 
mocking us for our audacity in daring to defy them. The 
thick atmosphere embarrassed us considerably in judging 
of distance and perspective. We were often brought up 
suddenly at the bottom of a dune, which, owing to its 
blurred outlines, we still imagined to be a good way ahead 
of us. 
In front of us extended an endless world of ridges and 
