TA-JING. 57 



having been lighted inside. The Mongols gravely 

 assured me that the fuel used on these occasions 

 was a mixture of wolves' and sheep's dung, and that 

 the sm.oke rose perpendicularly in the air, no matter 

 how strong a wind blew. 



Rather over a mile beyond the Great Wall 

 lies the small town of Ta-jing, which escaped the 

 Duncrans. At the time of our march it луаз Q-ar- 

 risoned by i,ooo Chinese troops, Solones ^ from 

 Manchuria, near the banks of the Amur. They all 

 understood Russian, and some could even speak it, 

 saluting us Avith a ' How do you do } I hope you are 

 well.' 



Oar caravan did not enter the town, but halted 

 immediately outside its mud wall, where we hoped 

 to obtain some respite from unwelcome visitors. 

 But vain were such hopes. In a moment the news 

 of our arrival had passed through the town, and we 

 were invaded by crowds of sightseers. Not content 

 with looking from a distance, the Chinese actually 

 forced their way into our tent, and gave us not a 

 moment's peace. It was no use driving them out, 

 or setting the dog at them, because no sooner had 

 one lot disappeared than another made its appear- 

 ance. Officers rode up to our tent, and asked us to 

 show them our guns and make them some present. 

 On our refusal, they demanded to see our passports, 

 and threatened to prevent us from proceeding on 

 our journey. This continued for two days, i.e. as 

 long as we were at Ta-jing. Here we found a very 



' See Supplementary Note. 



