7i6 
THROUGH ASIA 
and a knife to their leader ; and they were more than 
satisfied. 
The river usually freezes towards the end of December ; 
and in those places in which the current is not too strong, 
the ice is wont to be thick. It is then possible to ride 
along the ice up the valley to the village of Kichick-tong 
and the side-valley of Chepp, which leads to the pass 
of Korum-art (the Stone Pass), in the mountain-chain 
that overlooks the river on the right. The summer fiood 
begins in the end of May and lasts three months. 
Having safely crossed the Yarkand-daria, we reloaded 
and continued our journey down the stream by its right 
bank. But we had not advanced far before the road 
appeared to be blocked by a projecting spur, which shot 
perpendicularly down to the water’s edge. But the 
Tajiks have hewn out a ledge or sort of cornice-path 
round the face of the spur — a work which probably 
dates from a remote antiquity ; but the outside edge 
had crumbled away, so that the path sloped towards 
the abyss, at the bottom of which the river foamed. 
The path had been mended with stakes and branches 
and slabs of rock ; but the boxes with which the horses 
were laden constantly scraped against the rocky wall. 
Besides, in some places the path was so narrow that 
the horses were quite unable to get along with their 
loads. One of them only escaped going over by the 
merest shave ; he stumbled in one of the narrowest parts, 
and would unfailingly have been precipitated into the 
river, had not Islam Bai flung himself upon him in the 
very nick of time and so preserved his balance, while 
the rest of us hastily freed him from his boxes. After 
that I had all the baggage carried over the dangerous 
places. 
We halted at Kurruk-lengher (the Dry Rest-house), 
situated in the entrance of the valley of the same name. 
It was a charming village, being encircled on all sides 
by gigantic cliff-walls, whilst itself embowered in parks 
and groves of leafy trees, amongst which the poplar, 
with its tall straight stem and spreading crown of foliage. 
