Across the Roof of the World. 



flour, meat, vegetables andsalt, can generally be obtained en route, 

 so that a sufficient supply of only a limited number of articles need 

 be taken. During the summer fruit of sorts is always available, 

 and dried apricots can be found in most of the native villages. 

 Articles essential to be taken right through the journey would 

 comprise : — Butter, jam, baking powder, tea, and a few luxuries, 

 which, entirely depend on one's personal idiosyncrasies. 



My own " through '"•' list consisted of the following : — Butter, 

 pearl barley, jam, baking powder, cornflour, Bird's custard 

 powder, assorted soups in squares, cocoa, vermicelli, dried tinned 

 fruits, red currant jelly, Bovril, and saxin, the tabloid form of 

 sugar which enables one to carry in an infinitesimal space a 

 quantity sufficient to last a whole year. As vegetables are not 

 always procurable a quantity of compressed should be taken. 



I had originally intended taking some tins of Army rations, 

 but cut them out at the last minute to save weight, a decision 

 I afterwards on many occasions regretted. They form an appe- 

 tising meal, and often when trekking across the Pamirs or over 

 the bleak Mongolian steppes, where only yak or camel dung is 

 available as fuel and the low temperature and intense cold render 

 cooking operations a matter of extreme difficulty, this form of 

 ready-cooked food, which only needs heating, would have proved 

 an inestimable boon. A useful item is some whisky or brandy, 

 a small quantity of which might be taken more as a medicine 

 than a luxury. 



The purchase of stores should be left until arrival at 

 Srinagar in Kashmir, the great fitting-out place for all 

 expeditions into Tibet and Chinese Turkistan, as here one 

 finds a large number of shops where anything can be pur- 

 chased from a pin to an anchor. Moreover, one saves the carriage 

 into Kashmir, and the Customs duties on imported goods, 

 Kashmir being a native state with Customs, rules and regula- 

 tions of its own. 



When travelling within the boundaries of the Chinese Empire 

 it is usual to give presents to the Chinese ofiicials in return for the 



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