642 
THROUGH ASIA 
which trailed along the ground, putting me in mind of 
comets’ tails. Track, trenches, storm -driven boughs — 
nothing was to be seen. In such a storm as that your 
head goes round ; you imagine the earth, the atmosphere, 
everything is in commotion ; you are oppressed by a 
feeling of anxiety lest the next moment you yourself 
should be caught up in the frenzied embrace of the 
wind. It turned as dark as midnight, and for some 
time we durst not move a step from the spot where 
we stood. The instant the storm burst Islam was lost 
to sight ; and it was only by the merest chance that 
we came together again. He just saw the dim outline 
of the caravan like some huge monster slowly crawling 
through the haze. 
Seeing that the storm — one of the worst we had 
experienced — showed signs of lasting some time, we 
cautiously piloted our way to the river-bank, and sought 
shelter behind the thick brushwood in the heart of the 
forest. There we decided to encamp for the night. We 
afterwards dug a well in a depression of the river, and 
reached water after a few spades’ depths. As soon as 
it grew dark (night), the men set fire to the undergrowth 
on the lee side of our camp. The flames, fanned by the 
gale, spread with portentous rapidity, giving rise to a 
magnificent, but wild, spectacle. 
May 29th. The storm still continued. The air was so 
densely charged with dust, that we saw but little of our 
surroundings. Fortunately we were able to get along 
by keeping close to the left side of the river-bed, and 
in that way chanced to stumble on a sign-post, consisting 
of a pole with a horse’s skull on the top, fixed in a poplar 
tree. Upon going up to examine it more closely, I dis- 
covered a path leading into the forest, a path which I took 
for granted went to Ak-su. We decided to follow it. It 
led us towards the north-west, along a plainly marked 
river-bed, now dry and in part sanded up, and shut in 
by sand-dunes, poplar holts, and bushes. In all probability 
it was a former arm of the delta of the Khotan-daria. At 
intervals, as the road crossed several belts of barren sand. 
