and well-mounted, the little body would run no unjustifiable risk of attack ; 
and accordingly Clark and Douglas started on July 2nd, and travelling vid 
Hsi-an Fu and Ho-nan Fu reached Peking by the end of the month. Grant 
and Sowerby, after a fortnight spent in getting matters ship-shape for the 
return journey, started for the capital vid Ch’ing-yang, Yen-an, and T’ai-yiian 
on July 15th. . 
Thus the sad occurrence described above forced us to retrace our steps 
just as we had reached the threshold of what promised to be the most 
interesting part of our travels. The death of Hazrat Ali was a deep loss to 
the whole party, and a real blow to everyone of us. Besides being a first 
class surveyor, he was a faithful and loyal friend, cheerful under all circum- 
stances, and had endeared himself to his comrades of the expedition. 
It is regrettable that, although every sort of pressure was brought to bear 
upon the Chinese Foreign Office, no reparation has ever been made for this 
deliberate murder of a British subject. 
69 
