4
On the tenth night of Ramazan Fate casts the lot of all men,
Therefore omit not to give alms to the poor on the eve of Destiny.
Chorus, etc.
CHAPTER IX
THE ANCIENT CITY OF YARKAND
The Turki have long-shaped faces, well-formed noses and full beards....
These facts show that the modern Yarkandees are not pure Tartars like the Kirghiz ... but rather Tartarized Aryans, if I may so express myself.—Robert Shaw, Visits to High Tartary, Yarkand and Kashgar.
It was the beginning of September when we set off on the tour which had Khotan as its goal and which was in reality a passing from oasis to oasis along the edge of the Takla Makan Desert. This sahara may be regarded as the western extension of the immense waste of the Gobi that stretches for more than a thousand miles to the east, a very abomination of desolation.
Golden autumn was on the land as we rode out of Kashgar along the broad tree-shaded road that leads to the New City, and turned off after a couple of miles to cross the imposing-looking Kalmuck bridge. Along the river bank the rice was being cut and then threshed by means of a stone roller, which bullocks and donkeys were pulling round and round over the heaped-up ears, the handsome millet crop was turning yellow, the big leaves of melons, pumpkins and gourds were withering, and only the lucerne kept its vivid green.