1074 
THROUGH ASIA 
outlines of two or three tents ; evidently the place had 
been inhabited for some time by Tibetan or Mongol 
nomads, with their herds of yaks. In the immediate 
vicinity we found eight other stones of a similar character 
to the first four, all covered with inscriptions. We could 
not possibly carry them all with us. I selected therefore 
a couple of well-executed fragments, which were not too 
thin to stand the rougrh usag'e of travel. The others 
we buried, so as to preserve them ; for if the discovery 
proved to be important, I could return on some future 
occasion, and fetch them. 
Then we continued our journey north-eastwards towards 
camp No. XXXVI.; and that day covered fifteen miles. 
Not very long after starting we came to a large stream 
flowing towards the east, and out of the lake. After all, 
then, lake No. 23 was not a self-contained basin without 
outlet. For the stream did not flow into, but out of, the 
lake, and cut its way through the mountain-chain which 
soared up in front of us. The next notable landmark 
was an inconsiderable pass, near which we perceived the 
skull of an arkhari or wild sheep, as well as some herds 
of yaks and orongo antelopes, and numerous khulans. 
Every now and again we could make out something like 
a beaten track ; but whether it was made by wild animals 
or by human beings we could not ascertain. But on the 
summit of the pass we came across a cairn of stones ; 
that at any rate owed its existence to human hands. 
We descended from the pass into a spacious cauldron- 
shaped valley, richly supplied with grass, and intersected 
by several small brooks flowing towards the south-east. 
It seemed to be a perfect El Dorado for khulans; for 
they swarmed all over it in such numbers that we counted 
troops of 80 to 200 individuals, moving like squadrons of 
cavalry along the mountain-slopes. 
In about the middle of the valley we made another 
discovery — a very remarkable one all things considered, 
for it consisted of the tracks of three camels and half-a- 
dozen horses, that is to say, an entire caravan, and it had 
travelled towards the north-west. According to the Tagh- 
