LAKE KOKO-NOR FROZEN. MIRAGES. 227 



of the Pouhain-gol, pitching our yurta by a small 

 marsh on the borders of a plain, where our horses 

 and camels could find plenty of good grass, and the 

 latter might feast on gudjir and on their favourite 

 tamarisk bushes, which grew in the bed of the river. 



The lake itself presented a very different aspect 

 from what it had borne the previous autumn. The 

 dark blue waters, now covered with a glittering 

 expanse of ice, lay like a vast mirror in a frame- 

 work of mountains and plains. Not a broken space 

 was visible, and but little snow was scattered on the 

 frozen level surface, which in places was clear as 

 crystal and reflected the sun's rays, making it look 

 like open water. 



The plains surrounding the lake were clothed 

 with yellow withered grass, for the most part tram- 

 pled under foot by wild asses, antelope, and Tangutan 

 cattle, whilst the monotony of the landscape was 

 only relieved by mirages. These луеге so frequent 

 and so delusive as to render it impossible to shoot 

 any large animals with the rifle, for the game would 

 appear to float in the air, magnified to twice its 

 natural size. 



Having encamped in a spot where there were 

 neither Mongols nor Tangutans to interfere with us, 

 we made daily expeditions along the shores of the 

 lake and the banks of the Pouhain-gol. But, alas ! 

 day after day passed without the longed-for arrival 

 of birds. Some there were certainly, but in little 

 variety, and so few in number that we could not 

 always shoot enough for our personal requirements, 



Q2 



