Liu-chia-mo, some five and a half miles from Huang-ho-yeh and at an altitude 
of about 3100 feet. Sand from the desert, in small patches, was noticed here 
for the first time. 
The following day, October 30th, our road led first over a small plateau, 
from which it descended into the sandy valley of the Tui Ho. This river, 
though not large, flows swiftly down a channel which it has worn out of the 
rock, leaving the greater part of the valley to the wind-borne sand, drifted 
doubtless from the Ordos. After crossing the Tui Ho near a small village, the 
road ascends another rough ravine. For the rest of the day’s march no 
villages and but very little cultivation were seen; the country was growing 
steadily wilder and more desolate, desert sand was noticed, and the loess itself 
was composed of larger particles of silica. The ravines and gorges were found 
to shelter large coveys of red-legged partridges, many of which were bagged 
for the pot. We reached camp rather late. This had already been pitched by 
the now expert servants at Chin-chia-k’ou, a village some seventeen miles from 
Liu-chia-mo. The weather was becoming a trifle too cold for tents; the 
stoves leaked abominably, and no fuel but a very smoky bituminous coal was 
obtainable. The minimum temperature at Chin-chia-k’ou was 23°5 Fah., 
which gives sufficient indication of our experience. The altitude worked out 
to about 3400 feet. 
Next day a march of five miles brought us to Chiu-ts’ai, a hamlet on a 
stream called Chia-lu. This lies slightly lower than our last camp, but the 
going was very bad, the road being mainly across an isolated belt of sand—the 
first really definite sign of the great Ordos Desert towards which the expedi- 
tion was gradually working. 
On November 1st the journey was up a broad valley, varying in width 
from a quarter to half a mile. A good road extended all the way. Sand in 
patches was frequently seen, and it was also observed on the coarse-grained 
loess forming the sides of the valley. Two tiny hamlets were the only signs of 
habitation noticed; but camels loaded with soda, and donkeys bearing coal 
and salt were encountered, giving some idea of the products of the neighbour- 
hood. After a march of about nine miles we halted at Yang-chia-tien, where 
quarters were secured in a large Buddhist temple. Of this the priest seemed 
rather the landlord than an officiating minister; however, to show his piety, 
he had instituted religious processions, in which apparently all the ragamuffins 
of the locality took part twice daily. The impossibility of serving God and 
Mammon holds as little real place in Chinese ethics as perhaps in those of 
some other nations. So comfortable were the quarters that we were loath to 
B 17 
