CHINESE CURIOSITY 177 



expected Joseph every moment with a month's stores 

 from Kosh-Agatch — reinforcements which we badly 

 required. The weather continued beautiful. After 

 luncheon our friends the Chinamen strolled up to our 

 camp with a view of ascertaining" our plans, but we 

 kept on the defensive in a most Machiavellian way. 

 Their curiosity was otherwise satisfied, for there was 

 hardly a thing" in our tents they left untouched, some 

 of them going so far as to feel the ladies' skirts, 

 buttons, and boots. The excuse they gave for paying 

 us this visit was to learn whether we had spent a 

 comfortable night. They professed to apologise for 

 not being able to supply us with a guide, and took 

 roundabout turns with that object, such as : Our 

 Emperor lives on very good terms with yours, and 

 we are quite ready to comply with your wishes, but 

 . . . etc. Here Mrs. Littledale thought it might be 

 the best opportunity for securing" the silver belt 

 already described. She offered the man 60 roubles 

 for it, and we produced sixty new silver coins, hoping 

 to entice him into the bargain, but he was not ac- 

 quainted with Russian money, or at least appeared 

 not to be, and sent to his yourt for a pair of scales 

 in order to weigh the metal. When he had carefully 

 weighed it he appeared to suggest that it might not 

 be all silver, and that there might be lead inside, 



