GUIDES. OUR FAME AS MARKSMEN. 97 



their way from the town of Tatung ^ to phinder in 

 Eastern Kan-su ; and so great was the terror they 

 produced that nothing would induce the Mongol 

 whom we hired at Chobsen to accompany us to 

 Gadjur, until we took another Tangutan guide well 

 acquainted with the country, when the two, after 

 holding some parley together in their own language, 

 consented to proceed. I think they mutually agreed 

 to desert in case we were attacked ; but as we never 

 trusted to the assistance of our guides in case of 

 danger, this would not have made the slightest 

 difference to us. Our fame as marksmen, and the 

 reports of our wonderful guns, which had spread far 

 and wide, were of much greater importance. I was 

 regarded as a magician, whom no bullet could harm, 

 and I, of course, took care not to undeceive them. 

 We луеге always on the alert, however, and kept 

 watch in dangerous places. We never held inter- 

 course with the natives after dark for fear of admit- 

 ting an enemy unawares. But we were not molested, 

 although bands of robbers frequently passed our 

 camp, and must have known of our whereabouts. 

 After the middle of Auo-ust animal and vegfetable 



о о 



life rapidly declined, and by the end of the month 

 autumn had set in. The leaves were yellow, and 

 the fruit of the mountain-ash and barberry adorned 

 the ravines. The grass had withered, and only a 

 few solitary flowers were left. One after the other 

 the gay birds disappeared in search of a warmer 



' This town stands on the Tatung-gol, sixty-seven miles above the 

 temple of Cheiiinton. 



VOL. II. H 



