s carefully laid upon the hot ashes, with
which it was then covered, and left to bake for an hour or so.

When ready, Ali Murat brought me a piece of the bread to try--which I
reluctantly did so as not to offend his feelings.

"Do camel men in your country, Sahib, make as good bread as this when
they cross the _lut_ (desert)?" inquired Ali Murat, with an expectant
grin from ear to ear.

"We have no camel men in my country, and no camels, and no _lut_! How
could we then get as good bread as yours?" (Really, when one tried to
forget the process of making it, which did not quite appeal to one, the
bread was not bad.)

"You have no camels, sahib,--no _lut_--in your country?" exclaimed Ali,
with his eyes fast expanding with surprise; "Why, then, did you come
here?"

"We have so much scenery in my country that I thought I would come here
for a change."

[Illustration: Author's Caravan in the Salt Desert.]

[Illustration: Ali Murat Making Bread.]

We left the caravanserai at 11.30 p.m. on November 9th and travelled
across the plain all through the night. About 4 miles from Haoz Panch we
found an ancient mud caravanserai abandoned and partly ruined. We had the
hills quite close on our right and we came across a good many dry
channels cut by water. We travelled on the flat all the time, but we
passed on either side a great many low mounds of sand and gravel. There
was absolutely nothing worth noticing in the night's journey until we
came to the small villages of Heirabad and Shoshabad, eighteen miles from
our last camp. Two miles further we found ourselves at Lawah
(Rawar)--altitude 4,430 feet--a very large oasis with a small town of
some three thousand mud huts and ten thousand inhabitants, according to
native accounts.

CHAPTER IV

Lawah or Rawar--A way to Yezd--The bazaar--Trade--Ruined
forts--Opium smoking and its effects--Beggar's ingenious
device--In a local gentleman's home--The Tokrajie--Buying fresh
provisions--Water skins--An unhealthy climate--A fight--When
fever is contracted--Wolves in camp--Fever stricken--A third cat
purchased.

Lawah or Rawar is, in a way, quite an important centre. It is the last
place one passes before entering the Salt Desert proper, on the border of
which it is situated, and is, therefore, the last spot where provisions
and good water can be obtained. It has a certain amount of local trade
and is connected with Yezd by a very tortuous track