THE WELCOME MAT

My family soldiers along as I continue my Keay binge (see below). This excerpt should give a sense of how the early British explorers were received:

"As a result of Moorcroft's try for Yarkand the Chinese, so Vigne was told, had executed a massive wall painting of a European so that every Yarkandi would instantly recognize and apprehend any subsequent visitor. Burnes heard similar stories on his way to Bukhara [the legendary Uzbek market on the Silk Road], only his version had it that anyone who recognized such a persona non grata was entitled to appropriate him and his possessions, forwarding to the authorities as evidence just the man's head..."