io8 A STEPPE FIRE ON LAKE DALAI-NOR. 



Steppe fire. Although we had seen many such con- 

 flagrations in the mountains on the border, purposely 

 lighted by the inhabitants to consume last year's 

 withered grass, this spectacle far surpassed any we 

 had yet beheld. 



Towards eveninof a small lio^ht was visible on 



о о 



the horizon, which in the course of two or three hours 

 became a long line of fire advancing rapidly across 

 the open plain. A solitary hill in the centre was 

 soon enveloped in flames, and appeared like a great 

 building burning above the rest. The heavens 

 were cloaked with clouds refulgent with a purple 

 glow, which threw a lurid glare far and wide over 

 the steppe ; columns of smoke rose in fantastic 

 shapes till they were lost to the eye in a confused, 

 indistinct mass. In the foreground lay the vast 

 plain lighted up by the burning belt ; behind, the 

 darkness of night, which seemed blacker and more 

 impenetrable than ever ; the lake resounded with the 

 loud cries of startled birds, while all was still and 

 quiet on the plain. 



Dalai-nor^ lies to the north of the hills of Guchin- 

 gurbu, and is the largest of the lakes of South-east 

 Mongolia. In shape it is a flattened ellipse with an 

 axis elongated from north-east to south-west. Its 

 western shore is indented by several bays, but the 

 remainder of its coast-line is almost unbroken. Its 

 water is salt, and, according to the natives, very 

 deep ; but we could hardly believe this statement, 



^ The translation of its Mongol name is 'lake-sea.' 



