CHAPTER LXVIII. 
THROUGH THE FORESTS OF THE TARIM 
F ebruary 19th. After travelling a couple of hours 
through the high sand, we once more perceived signs 
of vegetation towards the north, namely the desert bush 
saksaul {^Anabasis Ammodend7'OH), which in the Turki 
dialect of Kashgar is called sak-sak, and in that of Khotan 
kourtik. The saksaul appeared to be supplanting the 
tamarisk, for the latter was conspicuously absent. We 
again observed signs of the wild camel, hare, fox, and 
lizard. The ground between some of the dunes consisted 
of what the men called skor, i.e. damp clay coated with 
saline incrustations. Every now and again we came 
across the yellow, wind-driven flags and sheaths of kamish 
(reeds). The Tarim could not be very far away. 
The dunes were 25 to 30 feet high. Prom the top of a 
davan or pass I at length saw a small patch of kamish, 
and there we rested, so as to give the camels a meal. 
Before morning they had cleared the entire patch. A well 
we dug yielded water {40°3 Fahr. or 4°6 C.) at a depth of 
five feet ; but it was salt and bitter, so that even the 
animals refused to drink it. 
Ahmed was at last easy in his mind : for he had made 
the same observation I had, namely that the water in the 
desert wells always turns salt when you are approaching a 
river. At any rate, it was a good omen on my birthday ; 
for we had now a sure indication that we were nearing the 
Tarim. In the evening we filled several vessels with 
water drawn from the well, and when the morning came 
melted the ice w'hich formed on them during the night, 
and in that way got rid of a good deal of the saline 
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