434 SOUTHERN DZUNGARIA 



stages ; these were sometimes a farce, as frequently neither 

 food nor water could be procured, and occasionally we 

 sent our men a mile to cut ice with which to cook, and 

 even this we had to buy ! 



The same type of cheerless serai offered us a resting- 

 place each night, the same skin-clad native bade us 

 welcome, and tried to cheat us on the bill when we 

 departed next morning. The serais were always quad- 

 rangular structures composed of many small rooms, like 

 cubicles, boasting paperless windows, and no chimney ; 

 some possessed a larger (and colder) guest-chamber for 

 the use of Chinese olhcials when on the road ; but we 

 nearly always used the smaller ones, being the more 

 easily heated. 



On arrival a sleepy, " huddled-up " native, looking 

 twice his natural size owing to the number of sheep-skin 

 coats he was wearing, would kindle a smoky fire, whilst 

 our servants commandeered every egg the village could 

 produce. The food-supply was sometimes an important 

 question, for the markets seemed to disappear like 

 the inhabitants during the winter months, and we could 

 not always rely upon getting the most ordinary articles 

 of diet. Nights were often made hideous by the quarrel- 

 ling animals ; there were always dog-fights ; and I re- 

 member, on one occasion, the whole inn was kept awake 

 by the mad ravings of a holy man, a Dungan lunatic at 

 large. If the serais were too uninviting, or the smoky 

 rooms impossible to rest in, we were always able to resort 

 to our carts for the nights. 



One advantage alone seemed to result from a winter's, 

 journey along the Imperial High-road, and that arose 

 from the fact that everything was frozen solid ; the 

 insanitary conditions of our surroundings were thus 



