CHAPTER LXXIII. 
THE RETURN TO KHOTAN 
HE first four months of the year we were con- 
1 tinuously travelling towards the east, and putting 
an ever greater distance between ourselves and our new 
o 
base of operations in Khotan, By the time we reached 
the goal of our journey, the farthest of the lakes of 
Lop-nor, we were fully six hundred miles from the place 
where I had left nearly all my baggage, and such of my 
money as I did not absolutely need. But the long journey 
had not been fruitless. I had achieved the objects I set 
out to accompli.sh ; I had examined the ancient cities of 
the desert, had traced the course of the Keriya-daria as 
far as it goes, had crossed the Desert of Gobi, unravelled 
the complicated river-system of the Tarim, studied the 
problem of Bagrash-koll, and explored the neighbourhood 
of Lop-nor. 
Our hard, forced march across the desert had tried us 
all severely. The summer with its oppressive heat was 
coming on, not at all a pleasant outlook for us, seeing that 
we had only our winter equipment of clothing with us ; 
and we w'ere all longing to get back to Khotan to rest. 
If only we could have flown there, we should certainly 
have done it ; because, since the journeys of Przhevalsky, 
Pievtsoff, Dutreuil de Rhins, and the Littledales, both 
routes aloiiR the northern foot of the Kwen-lun Mountains 
are sufficiently well known ; besides which, they have little 
of interest to offer. But not pos.sessing the wings of the 
wild - duck, we had no other alternative but to ride. 
Hence, after a hearty farewell of the “classic” old 
chieftain, Kunchekkan Beg, we left Abdal, with our 
three camels and two horses, on 25th April. 
914 
