ACROSS DZUNGARIA 547 



From Shi-Kho, with a fresh caravan, we journeyed 

 northwards by the main road which leads to Chuguchak, 

 and, by doing so, experienced much we had escaped 

 during the winter's trek along the high-road, namely, the 

 plunging through acres of mud caused by over-flowing 

 canals, the crossing of countless unbridged dykes, and 

 the putting up at night in places which were literally 

 cesspools of filth ; all of which had been too hard frozen 

 in the winter to be either a hindrance or an offence. A 

 few marches took us out of the low, hot basin to rising 

 ground ; once off the floor of the plain we approached 

 happier and pleasanter lands and at length reached 

 the excellent pastures of the Maili highlands, the first 

 spurs of the northern border-range. 



