WHERE IS THE TARIM? 843 
Ah well ! Our water was at an end, and the well was 
dry. Was there a similar terrible desert before us, and 
a similar ghastly fate awaiting us, as in the western Takla- 
makan? No; this time we would be wiser. We held a 
council of war, and resolved to risk one more day’s march 
to the north. The fox could not have come so very far 
from the Tarim ; yet the fox is a wily animal, a dangerous 
guide, and we made up our minds to be on our guard 
against him. 
If we did not find water on the morrow, we were to 
return to the well we dug at camp No. XXVII. 
