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CHAPTER II.
THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS AND DESERTS TO THE
YARKAND-DARIA.
The distance between Osh, the most eastern town of
Fergana, and Kashgar, the most western town of China,
amounts to 270 miles. An easy and picturesque road,
which can easily be traversed in a fortnight on horse-
back, connects the two over the Alai Pass of Tong-burun.
After the heat of the deserts, the cool mountain air was
doubly welcome. I had with me seven men and 26 horses.
Islam Bai was karavan-bashi, or " leader of the caravan."
I also took from Osh two active little pups. One was
called Dovlet, or the Happy ; the other, with the blood
of Asiatic wild animals in his veins, rejoiced in the name
of Yoldash, or the Travelling Companion. They lived
and ate in my tent, and were my acknowledged favourites ;
and when I lost them I missed them as much as if they
had been human beings. Yoldash, who held out for 2^
years, was one of the most important members of our
caravan.
We crossed the frontier between Russia and China
at the little fort of Irkeshtam, and then rode down into
the beautiful glen of N?gara-chaldi, with its forest of
poplars, willows and smaller bushes. In this beautiful
oasis, with the cooling tinkle of its waters echoing against
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