Across the Roof of the World. 



the morning I called on the Hsei Tai, or officer commanding the 

 garrison, at his Yamen situated in a dip of the hills a mile to the 

 north-west. He had a small body of his troops drawn up to 

 receive me, the bugler blowing a fanfare on an old trumpet of 

 German make, a discordant noise certainly, but still a fanfare. 



The Hsei Tai greeted me cordially, and we adjourned to the 

 reception room, where a table was laid with tea and sweetmeats 

 and a supply of Russian cigarettes. He told me he had only 

 recently arrived from Pekin, having been appointed to the 

 command here, and since his arrival had completed a tour of the 

 district. Whilst thus engaged a report had spread amongst the 

 Kazaks that they were to be pressed for service as irregular 

 cavalry by the Chinese, which so alarmed them that they all 

 cleared out of the neighbourhood, bag and baggage, martial 

 ambition obviously being at a low ebb amongst them. 



The Hsei Tai returned my call in the afternoon, not appearing 

 in a " mapa," or Chinese cart, but on horseback, accompanied 

 by some of his unkempt soldiery. They all rode into the little 

 courtyard of my quarters and dismounted, the Hsei Tai, followed 

 by his interpreter and pipe bearer, being received by me at the 

 door. The conversation was on general lines, my shoot in the 

 Thian Shan being the topic that interested him most, especially 

 the wapiti horns. My negative replies to his questions as to 

 whether I had put the latter up for auction seemed to completely 

 mystify him, and he evidently thought I had lost a good 

 chance, so that doubtless his opinion of my money-making 

 abilities was not high. 



With the Hsei Tai's departure were concluded the ceremonial 

 visits incumbent on one after arrival in a Chinese town, so that 

 I could now devote myself to the problem of reaching the far side 

 of the Altai and getting down on to the Ovis amnion ground, 

 in search of which I had come so far and endured so much. 



On December 26th the amount of snow on the ground had 

 been considerably augmented by a heavy fall during the previous 

 night, so that climatic conditions had still further changed for 



37S 



