KULDJA TO URUMTSI 147 



of one, but they are afraid of any responsibility, 

 and dare not disregard passports. As a precaution 

 in case of trouble, they are usually very careful to 

 explain to one exactly how far their particular district 

 extends, as if anything happens beyond the bound- 

 ary it is not their affair. As far as being of any 

 use in an emergency goes, I should think that the 

 escort might as well not be there ; but they make 

 a fine show with banners and horns, and they 

 were of some use to us on one occasion, though 

 even then they arrived on the scene rather late. 



From Kuldja to Urumtsi is 22 marches 432 

 miles, and I may as well say at once that I do not 

 profess to spell the names of the places properly. I 

 don't know whether it is possible to express Chinese 

 sounds in English ; certainly I can't do it myself, so 

 have just put down the nearest approach that I 

 could get. 



On March 26th we sent off nearly all our 

 baggage, and started ourselves the next day ; the 

 Shwingam came down in the morning to see us 

 off, and seemed to be really sorry we were 

 going. By now the snow was nearly all gone, 

 but there was enough mud and water to make 

 up for it. However, we were glad to be on the 

 road again, having had more than enough of 

 Kuldja. We put up in a small house outside the 

 city of Swidong, and proceeded to try and smoke 

 ourselves out of it by lighting a fire. Some two 



