In the evening, some mutton was cooked in a vessel which just before
was full of dirty linen steeped in water. This was emptied out,
and, without cleaning the pot, it was used to prepare the food in
the same manner as at the house of my guide.
On the 30th of June we halted at the village of Sab. We here
crossed the great river Sab by means of rafts, the mode of
constructing which is certainly very ancient. They consist of
leathern bottles, filled with air, fastened together with poles, and
covered with planks, reeds, and rushes. Our raft had twenty-eight
wind-bags, was seven feet broad, nearly as long, and carried two
horse-loads and six men. As our caravan numbered thirty-two loaded
animals, the crossing of the river occupied half a day. Four or
five of the animals were tied together and drawn over by a man
seated across an air-bag. The weaker animals, such as the donkeys,
had a bag half filled with air tied on their backs.
The night of the 30th of June, the last of our journey, was one of
the most wearisome: we travelled eleven hours.
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