DOWN THE KERIYA-DARIA 
815 
observe this deviation of the stream to the right, for it 
might possibly become more pronounced the further we 
went. The river might even turn eventually and flow 
parallel with the Tarim, making direct for Lop-nor, which 
of course it could never reach ! Each day the problem 
became more exciting. Would the expedition succeed, or 
should we be compelled to retrace our steps the way we 
had come ? 
Yugan-kum, the district we reached that day, answered 
well to its name of the “ Mighty Sand” ; for the river was 
overhung by high barren sand-dunes, which presented an 
almost perpendicular face to its channel. On the south 
however they were bordered by a steppe, where we again 
found shepherds. One of them accompanied us as far 
as the wooded tract called Tonkuz-basste (the Hanging 
Wild-boar). There two shepherd families were living 
like savages, camping in the open air round a fire. They 
were surrounded by a number of small children, whose 
only garment was an open fur coat. They were in charge 
of three hundred sheep grazing near by ; but had also 
other live-stock, namely a cock, three hens, a pigeon, and 
a couple of dogs. Their household utensils, consisting 
of wooden di.shes for baking, milking, and meals, w'ere 
strewn about the ground. They kept their drinking- 
water in skins and wooden tubs, the latter hollowed out 
of the stems of poplars, and their flour in bags. I also 
observed a few kungans (copper cans), knives, a pair of 
scissors, wooden spoons, a dutara (two-stringed musical 
instrument), felt carpets, a cooking-pot, a horsehair sieve 
for sifting flour, and a few articles of clothing. Two of 
the men wore the most extraordinary foot-gear I had 
hitherto seen, namely, the foot of a wild camel, with its 
hoofs and everything complete. The shepherds and their 
families were easily tamed, and even submitted to being 
sketched. 
Two of these shepherds told me that, a days journey 
to the north-west, there was another ruined town buried 
in the sand. They called it Kara - dung (the Black 
Hill), because the tamarisks which grew on the sand- 
