22 NEW YEAR'S EVE 1872. 



was generally clear. Snow only fell three times 

 during the whole of December, covering the ground 

 in places several inches thick, although many parts 

 remained quite bare of snow. 



The icy winds of Siberia, the almost constantly 

 unclouded sky, the bare saline soil, and its great 

 altitude above the sea, combine to make the Gobi or 

 desert of Mongolia one of the coldest countries in 

 the whole of Asia. But though even here, on the 

 /Tongolian border adjoining China, the great eleva- 

 ion of the plateau of course affects the temperature, 

 the climate is far less severe than in remoter parts 

 of the Gobi, and only on rare occasions are the 

 extreme rigours of its winter experienced. 



Every day's journey diminished the distance 

 which separated us from Kalgan, and increased our 

 impatience to gain that town. At last the long- 

 wished-for moment arrived, and at a late hour 

 on New Year's Eve (12th January) 1872, we ap- 

 peared before our Kalgan fellow-countrymen, who 

 received us as hospitably as before. 



The first act of the expedition was ended. The 

 results of our journey, which had been so gradually 

 collected, now became plainer. We could say with 

 clear consciences that so far w(; had fulfilled our 

 task ; and this amount of success only whetted our 

 passionate desire to plunge once again into the heart 

 of Asia, and strive to reach the distant shores of 

 Lake Koko-nor, 



