620 
THROUGH ASIA 
me ; although, he said, he did not know whether I was 
alive or dead, for he had lost my trail two days before. 
If they found me, he earnestly besought them to lend 
me one of their horses, so that I might ride to Khotan, 
and rest and recover from the journey, d hereupon they 
looked for me all along the road, until at length they 
found me in the hut ; and they now offered me the use 
of one of their horses, that I might accompany them to 
Khotan. But I never hesitated a moment as to the 
course I ought to pursue. I decided to stay where I 
was until Islam Bai rejoined me. Seeing that he had 
succeeded in bringing one of the camels out to the river, 
probably he had saved a portion of my belongings. 
Possibly my diaries and maps relating to our desert 
journey were not lost. Possibly we might even be able 
to reorganize the remnants of my shattered caravan ! 
My hopes as to the future began to revive and shine 
out in rosy colours. During the morning I had been 
considering the effects of the shipwreck of my caravan, 
and what plans I should adopt for the future, so that 
my journey might yield the best results possible under 
the circumstances. I had almost made up my mind to 
accompany the first best merchant that went past to 
Khotan, and thence go on to Kashgar, whence I could 
send jighits to the first Russian telegraph station with 
despatches for Kurope for a fresh stock of instruments 
and a fresh equipment, and with them, and what I could 
effect with the rest of the capital I had left behind in 
Kashgar, I might travel to Lop-nor, and thence return 
home through Siberia. But now that Islam Bai was 
alive, and had brought out one of the camels, I felt 
certain we might make an attempt to recover the tent, 
and the stores we had left in it; so that, instead of 
curtailing my plans for the future, I began to extend 
them. 
I therefore let the three merchants go on their way, after 
they had given me a good supply of wheat bread, and 
lent me eighteen silver tengeh (about 8^.). We arranged 
to meet again in Khotan, and settle the accounts out- 
