790 
THROUGH ASIA 
north, following the left bank of the Yurun-kash. For 
four days we travelled through a barren region and 
scattered woods as far as Islamabad, the last inhabited 
village ; there we crossed the river on the strong ice. 
In the neighbouring village of Tavek-kel, on the right 
bank of the river, we gave the camels a day’s rest, and 
made our final preparations before striking into the desert. 
To the east stretched the barren sand in a belt half as 
broad as the portion we crossed the previous year between 
the last lake at the foot of the Masar-tagh and the 
Khotan-daria. It was a much less dangerous journey ; 
for we knew that the sand was not so deep, that we could 
always get water by digging down to it, and that we 
OLD COPPER SPOONS .\ND IRON ARROW-HEAD FROM TAVEK-KEL 
Two-thirds of natural size 
should find plenty of tamarisks and poplars. We 
engaged two guides in the village, who had several 
times visited the buried city in search of gold and other 
valuables, and who for fair remuneration promised to 
conduct us thither. 
On January 19th we left the river and steered due east 
between the sand - dunes ; which for the first few days 
were comparatively low — not more than six feet or so in 
height — and there was still a scanty herbage. On the 
third day the dunes increased to fifteen and thirty feet 
high, and formed a network running east and west, north 
and south, with their steep sides to the west, south, and 
south - west, and with pyramidal dunes piled up at the 
points of intersection. 
As a rule our marches only lasted five or six hours a 
