^ к от ens: signs of spring. 233 



agreeable encounter with Chinese soldiers ; and this 

 actually happened to us at the very place where the 

 Dungans had threatened to attack us the year 

 before. This time it was a party of ' Kotens ' that 

 met us on their way from Seng-kwan to the Tatung- 

 gol. We showed the commander of the detachment 

 our Peking passport, but while doing so a soldier 

 stole a revolver from one of our holsters. We pro- 

 tested vigorously against this, and though we could 

 only express our sentiments by pantomimic gestures, 

 the Chinese officer understood their meaning, and, 

 afraid lest we should prefer our complaints at Peking, 

 he gave orders that it should be restored to us. He 

 then asked for gunpowder, and on receiving a dozen 

 charges expressed himself entirely satisfied, and we 

 parted good friends. 



We reached Chobsen on the 27th April, and 

 after a two days' stay at the temple, started for the 

 mountains in the vicinity of Chertinton, where we 

 had passed the previous summer. 



Spring now began in earnest; on the 21st we 

 saw the first butterflies, and on the 23rd the first 

 flower, a species of Ficaria. The southern slopes 

 were tinged with green, small birds arrived in 

 numbers, and near Chobsen ploughing and sowing 

 (barley and wheat) had begun, some corn being 

 already visible above ground. 



There was a thunderstorm on the 26th April, 

 which, though accompanied by hail, reminded us of 

 the approach of spring, for which we had so long 

 waited. But vegetation advanced slowly owing to 



