THE DECEITFUL TAGHLIKS 
999 
fresh valley bifurcated in two several places. At the first 
bifurcation we came upon a relic of Littledale’s expedition, 
namely the carcass of a donkey shrivelled up like a 
mummy and in no degree decomposed. It was evident 
that neither wolf nor bird of prey had scented the carrion. 
Thus far then we had, rightly enough, followed Little- 
dale’s route from our camp No. VIII. 
Now at length we perceived before us, in the east-south- 
east, the pass we had been so long seeking in the crest 
of the Arka-tagh. But when I and Emin Mirza reached 
the summit of a secondary pass, lying north of the 
principal pass, we were amazed to see that the trail of 
the horse-caravan (which according to the usual order 
of our march led the way) branched off down a side-glen 
leading to the left, that is towards the north. Hamdan 
Bai, who was now acting as our guide, had plainly taken 
a wrong- turn. But it was no use to shout to him, he 
O 
could not hear us, being too far in advance. 
After 1 had taken the usual observations (18,300 feet), 
there was nothing for it but to follow in Hamdan’s track, for 
the day was wearing on, and 1 did not care about sleeping 
out without my tent and my tea. We soon perceived that 
the glen, into which they had turned aside, curved round 
towards the west, so that the horses had gone very much 
astray, and before 1 and Emin Mirza had advanced very 
far we met them coming back, and Hamdan Bai, our 
guide, marching along at their head, looking very crest- 
fallen at his inconceivable stupidity. He had kept forging 
on ahead without thinking, until he crossed his own track, 
which he made earlier in that same day, and thus actually 
described a complete circle, and to crown all even climbed 
a pass, all to no purpose. Hamdan persisted, that just 
about that point Littledale had really made a short detour 
to the north, and he expected the valley would now soon 
bend round towards the east and the south. I never saw 
such rank stupidity and utter lack of the sense of locality ! 
1 took my gentleman smartly to task, and the others too 
for having followed him so blindly like a flock of silly 
sheep. 
