Across the Roof of the World. 



outside the city on the loth, and I accepted the invitation, 

 expressing my sincere thanks through Loutchitch. After dinner 

 tea was served and then the Tchja saw us off, the Consul making 

 a fine show in his tarantass with a number of outriders in white 

 fur caps and long blue coats. 



I spent the next day in looking round the town and the 

 Russian colony, the latter of growing proportions, owing to the 

 facilities for trade which accrue from the situation of Chuguchak. 

 There were a number of Chinese soldiers in the bazaars, 

 armed with old and rusty weapons, the manipulation of 

 which must be an art difficult of acquirement. Some of 

 them carried smooth bore rifles, suffering from the same 

 complaint. They reminded me of a story Krepotchikov had 

 told me in Kulja regarding his experiences of the Chinese Tommy 

 Atkins, Information had reached Kulja that a force of 40 Chinese 

 soldiers was then congregated on the Russo-Chinese frontier to 

 the north-west of Kulja. With the object of ascertaining their 

 motives the Cossack Captain had been sent up there with a 

 detachment of his men. The Chinese were, it appears, in pursuit 

 of some robbers who had escaped across the border, and 

 carried firearms, one of which Krepotchikov examined and 

 found to be loaded. On drawing the owner's attention to the 

 fact the latter coolly explained that six months before, whilst 

 out on the plains, he had sighted a fox and had endeavoured to 

 secure it, but the fox having other views gave him no chance. 

 The operation of unloading had escaped his memory until re- 

 minded of it by the Cossack Captain examining the rifle out of 

 curiosity, which showed their neglect in the care of arms. 



On the loth the great duck shoot and dinner at the mill took 

 place, to which, besides myself, the Russian officials and the 

 leading Chinese residents had been invited. I drove thither in 

 my tarantass, accompanied by Giyani, and armed with gun and 

 cartridges. The entertainment was well organised except that 

 there were no duck, which, however, did not seem to unduly 

 worry the host. We first of all assembled in a large log hut at 



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