178 DEPARTURE FROM BAUTU. 



The demoralised and degraded state of the 

 soldiery defies all description. They are the terror 

 of the peaceable inhabitants, and are almost all 

 opium-smokers. Lighted lamps are kept constantly 

 burning in all the barracks, the smokers sit round in 

 a circle, while others who have finished their pipes 

 lie about the floor buried in lethargic sleep. The 

 general, unable to cure his men of this vile practice, 

 entreated us, on the occasion of our first interview, 

 to "tell him if there were not some antidote for 

 opium, and offered a handsome reward if such could 

 be found. 



At this second visit we were ushered into the 

 same apartment as before. After accepting the 

 watch, the Mandarin asked us a great deal about 

 Russia. ' Where was our capital ? ' ' What our 

 system of agriculture?' and so on. He then ex- 

 amined our uniforms, down to the shirts and boots 

 we wore. Tea was then handed round, and presents 

 given us in exchange for those we brought, consist- 

 ing of small silken bags in which Mongols carry 

 their snuff-boxes attached to their belts. We 

 thanked our host, and told him of our desire to 

 depart immediately, requesting him to give orders 

 that we should not be detained at the ferry across 

 the Hoang-ho. The promise was duly given; we 

 took our leave, and soon afterwards they brought 

 us a pass ticket and our Peking passport, and we 

 were then at liberty to continue our journey. We 

 loaded our camels, and in the midst of a great crowd 

 at length turned our backs on the town, and soon 



