BURIED CITY OF TAKLA-MAKAN 791 
day, as we were anxious not to overwork the animals. 
Every time we encamped, the same routine had to be 
o-one through. Two of the men set to work without 
fe o 
loss of time to dig a well ; two of the others dug up 
tamarisk roots for the fire ; whilst Islam prepared my 
dinner, and Kerim Jan busied himself with the camels 
and their pack-saddles. My work was to sit down on 
my carpet, with my furs and felt boots on, and write 
down my notes, sketch and measure the sand-dunes, their 
angles of inclination, their height, their direction, and 
the like. That done, I went to the well, which by that 
time was generally nearly ready. The first few days w'e 
found drinkable water at depths of 7 ft. 10 in., 6 ft., 
and 5 ft. 6 in., with a temperature varying between 4.8° 2 
and 53°6 Fahr. (9° and 12° C.). The ground was frozen 
to a depth of 8^ inches. In the third well the water 
was as fresh as river w^ater. Strange to say, we found 
both here and near the Yarkand-daria and the Ughen- 
daria that the nearer the well was to the river, the salter 
its water. 
We soon learned to know whether it was worth while 
digging or not. Wherever a live tamarisk {yulgun) or 
poplar {tograk) grew, or the ground consisted of sand 
moist near the surface, there was pretty certain to be 
fresh water at a depth of about six or seven feet. It 
was only at such places that we encamped. Each day, 
when our march was drawing to a close, 1 sent a man 
on in advance to choose out the most .suitable spot to 
encamp in. 
Meanwhile as we advanced the sand-dunes grew higher, 
and also became more barren. On January 22nd the 
dunes were forty feet in height. Here again we en- 
countered the same curious accumulations of sand that 
we found in the western part of the Takla-makan Desert, 
that is to say huge massings of the sand-dunes in a 
north-south direction, parallel to the two rivers, Khotan- 
daria and Keriya - daria. In the depressions between 
them we generally found tamarisks, likewise stretching in 
narrow belts from north to south, and indicating the places 
