THE LAMA-CARAVAN. 47 



the Kutukhtus of Mongolia — the Gigen Djandji, 

 owner of a great many churches at Peking and in 

 MongoHa, including the renowned monastery of 

 Utai, not far from Kuku-khoto. The saint himself 

 was born at the temple of Chobsen, in the province 

 of Kan-su, whither our future companions were now 

 travelling. They were a motley assemblage. Ex-- 

 elusive of our four selves, the caravan numbered 37 

 men, ten of whom were lama-warriors, sent as an 

 escort by the Gigen of Ala-shan ; the others were 

 mostly Tangutans, natives of Chobsen ; there were 

 also a few Mongol pilgrims on their way to pray at 

 Lhassa. For the conveyance of all their luggage, 

 72 camels and 40 horses, including our own, were 

 required. The chiefs of the caravan were Donir- 

 Lamas (treasurers of Lamasiries), Tangutans by 

 birth, and excellent obliging men. To cement our 

 friendship with them, I gave to each one a small plaid. 



All the members of the caravan were armed with 

 matchlocks, lances, or swords. They had the repu- 

 tation of being brave, almost foolhardy men, to 

 venture at such a time into a country infested with 

 bands of maraudinof Dung^ans. The couragre of our 

 companions, however, as we shall presently see, was 

 not great even when the danger was only of an 

 imaginary kind. 



The lama- warriors carried English smooth-bores, 

 bought by the Chinese Government, and sent from 

 Peking to Ala-shan. Their guns, however, were of 

 an inferior kind, and were rendered still more unser- 

 viceable by careless treatment. But the appearance 



