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28 ADVENTURES IN TIBET.
In the fore-part of the tent I made a writing-table by
placing two boxes one upon the other, while the case of
the camera served as a stool. There I sat glued to my seat
during the whole of the long journey, mapping the great
river, all its banks and islands, and the forests and hills of
drift-sand that ran beside it. The floor—that is to say, the
deck on which the tent stood—was covered with a magni-
ficent Khotan carpet. The rest of the furniture consisted
of my comfortable tent-bedstead, and two or three boxes
filled with valuable instruments.
At Lailik we also knocked together a smaller ferry-boat
to carry our heavier baggage, principally provisions, such
as bags of flour and bread, vegetables and fruit, sheep and
poultry. As it floated down the Tarim, this little ferry-
boat looked for all the world like an idyllic farm-yard.
The hens provided me with eggs for breakfast. The cock
awoke me every morning by crowing " To work !
" and
did it with as much cocksureness as though he were the
Lord High Admiral of the entire flotilla.
Before leaving Lailik I invited all the distinguished men
of the neighbouring villages, as well as all our workmen, to
a magnificent banquet, at which mutton, steaming rice-
pudding, and smoking-hot tea were handed round without
stint. In the dusk of the evening Chinese paper lanterns
were hung up amongst the tents, while an orchestra, con-
s’sting of drums and stringed instruments, filled the still
bright evening air with their monotonous and melancholy
music. To me their melodies were sympathetic, although
they awakened saddening recollections, for four years
before the same men who were then thundering away on
their goat-skins for all they were worth had in a similar
way celebrated my departure on that awful journey across
the desert. How different were the conditions under which
we were now about to travel ! This time we should cer-
tainly not perish of thirst ; day and night we should always
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