890 
THROUGH ASIA 
When on 9th April we encamped at Kum-chekkeh we 
had not seen a human being for seven days. There we 
found, dwelling on the bank of the river Ilek, three fisher- 
men’s’ families, who only a short time before had flitted 
thither from the vicinity of the northern Lop-nor. At that 
point the river, after filtering through the reed-beds in the 
lakes, was bright as silver, and of a lovely dark blue 
Thence it flowed south in a deeply eroded channel ; and 
at the distance of two long day’s-marches rejoined the 
river T arim, forming another chain of small lakes on 
the way. . 
From Kum-chekkeh I sent my caravan on in charge of 
Islam Bai to the confluence of the two streams, whilst I 
myself, with two men to row me, made an excursion by 
canoe to the extreme end of the southern Lop-nor, that is, 
of Kara-koshun. The excursion took eight days, rest- 
days not included. It was a splendid trip. No craft ever 
bore a more grateful passenger. After the heavy, hot, 
toilsome marching through the everlasting sand, the 
quietude, the rest, the ease were perfectly delicious- 
indescribable ! 
The dwellers around the old as well as the new Lop-nor 
call themselves Loplik, i.e. Lop-men, and their canoes or 
dug-outs kemi, a word which signifies “boat,” “ferry, or 
any sort of swimming apparatus. The canoes vary of 
course very much in size. The largest I saw was over 
26 feet long, and 2^ feet broad. I he one I travelled in 
was about 20 feet long, but barely more than feet 
across. Three men, working hard, can hew a canoe out 
of a poplar in five days, the tree being, of course, sound 
at heart and free from cracks. The people never use sails, 
but always row, using an oar with a thin, broad blad^ 
They call their oar, which they ply with great strength 
and dexterity, gedyiick, the same word that is employed to 
designate a musical instrument which resembles a guitar in 
shape. Out on the open lake the rowers generally knelt ; 
but in the thick reeds they stood up, so as to see better, 
and faced the way they were going, and so punted the 
canoe along. As a rule there are two oarsmen to each 
