thp: camels break down 
541 
we felt more comfortable when he was out of our sisfht. 
The word that was oftenest heard during the day was 
“Yaman” (Bad; things look bad). But after a while 
something of the grim humour of despair began to creep 
over us. We passed some flakes of stone. One of the 
men advised another to look for gold. But no matter how 
the day went, our spirits invariably rose as we drew near 
to the next camping-place. Besides, what was the use of 
worrying ourselves about the morrow ; only let us rest 
after the toils and fatigues of that day, and recover from 
its deceptive hopes! After the heat of the day the 
coolness of the night was always welcome. 
In the evening, about six o’clock, a bright idea occurred 
to me. Why not try to dig a well t Islam Bai and Kasim 
were instantly all eagerness. Whilst the former made 
haste to get my “ dinner ” ready, the latter set to work 
to dig. He rolled up his sleeves, spat in his hands, and 
laid hold upon the ketmen, a sharp-pointed Sart spade, 
the blade of which was put on at right angles to the shaft. 
The dry clay crackled, and Kasim sang as he dug. After 
the other two men came into camp, all three took their 
turns at digging. In answer to my question, whether 
there v/as water there, Yollchi smiled scornfully, and said, 
“Oh, yes, there was plenty of water, if we dug down 
gtilatsh (fathoms) 1” Kasim got down about a yard. 
The clay was mixed with sand and it w^as moist ! Yollchi 
was put to shame, and worked with double zeal. The 
hopes of all of us revived. I hurried through my simple 
meal, and with Islam hastened to the well. And at it 
we went, all five of us, as hard as we could work. The 
hole grew deeper. The man digging could not be seen 
from the level ground ; nor was he able to throw the sand 
to the surface. A rope was tied to the handle of a bucket, 
and by that means the loose sand was drawn up to the 
top. A third man emptied the bucket. Gradually a 
circular mound rose round the opening, until I set to 
work and shovelled it away to make room. We began 
work at six o’clock. At that hour the temperature of the 
air was 83°5 Fahr. (28°6 C.) ; of the surface of the earth 
