Across the Roof of the World. 



On reaching the official residence the great gates were thrown 

 open and I marched througli lines of uniformed retainers to 

 the end of the inner courtyard wiiere the Tchja was waiting 

 to receive me. We then passed into the reception room, 

 comfortably furnished in semi-European style, with armchairs, 

 settees, tables and other articles of Western furniture. The 

 conversation was conducted in Turki and Hindustani, the Tchja 

 being well acquainted with the former tongue, a pleasant surprise 

 after my experiences of former Ambans and the laborious methods 

 of interpretation necessitated by their ignorance of the language. 

 The Tchja astonished me by his geographical knowledge, acquired 

 during journeys made to Moscow and St. Petersburg and over the 

 Trans-Siberian Railway, whilst he was also looking forward to 

 visiting the Continent and England. The conversation centred 

 mostly on my expedition and the route ahead, the Tchja stating 

 he would provide me with a special passport in Chinese, Mongol 

 and Turki, so that I should have no difficulty on the road. He 

 expressed the hope that I would often visit him during my stay 

 as he was fond of European society and had not met man}' English 

 before. 



From the yamen I proceeded to call on the Russian Consul, 

 who is charged with the task of safeguarding the interests of 

 the Russian colony in Tarbagatai and to foster trade between 

 the two Empires. 



The Consulate stands in its own grounds and is a large building 

 painted white, the interior being well furnished, with a number 

 of Chinese ornaments distributed about the rooms. The Vice- 

 Consul was at the time in charge, and he received me hospitably, 

 inviting me to dine with him every day during my stay in 

 Chuguchak. The appearance of his young wife, dressed in a 

 dainty Parisian costume, was a revelation to me after months of 

 wandering amongst shaggy and unkempt nomads. The chief of 

 the Russian Customs on the frontier was also present at dinner 

 that day, but, as he could only speak Russian, conversation with 

 liim was not very animated. 



340 



