Across the Roof of the World. 



honest person, certainly rare qualities in this wayward land. I 

 afterwards heard he was not on good terms with the Tchja, 

 which was, however, not the case with the old Ti-fang-wan, who 

 was rather a favourite, probably on account of his quiet and 

 inoffensive manner. 



At the conclusion of these visits I went off to dine witli 

 Loutchitch, and stayed there till seven in the evening, much 

 enjoying his genial company. He was a Chinese scholar 

 of no mean order, and through his instrumentality I was enabled 

 to purchase some hand-painted glass snuff bottles, several ancient 

 scrolls, and a number of hand-painted pictures of flowers con- 

 taining quotations from the ancient Chinese classics. I also 

 acquired a number of figures worked in silk and some pictures 

 on silk paper representing scenes from Chinese hfe. 



On December 7th I returned the calls of the Hsei Tai and 

 the Ti-fang-wan, and Shingwan, in their respective Yamens, being 

 regaled with tea, sweetmeats and the usual polite conversation, 

 always a strong feature at ceremonies of this kind. After these 

 visits I drove through the bazaars and was much struck with the 

 superior aspect of the place and the air of thriving importance it 

 bore, a state of affairs no doubt largely due to its approximation 

 to the Russian frontier. 



At noon three of the leading merchants, Russian subjects, 

 called to pay their respects. The principal one was engaged in 

 the skin trade, and at his invitation I visited his shop where he 

 showed me large numbers of fine sable and other skins being 

 prepared for exportation to European Russia. 



When these people had departed the Russian Consul came to 

 return my call, arriving in full uniform, seated in a smart 

 tarantass escorted by Cossacks, the whole making a very brilliant 

 show, well calculated to impress the crowds in the bazaars with 

 the might and power of the great White Czar. The Consul was 

 kind enough to apologise for not having called before due to a 

 case, on which he was engaged, taking up much of his time. 



At 2 o'clock I drove to the Consulate to dinner, spending a 

 342 



