sroirr and sciexck on the 



iniz i^iir mules we refused to proeeed any further. 



Findinix that tliese border Mongols eould speak 

 riiiuese thiently, I went into the liut to discuss 

 with the owiKis of the place, a newly married 

 couple, the niueh vexed question of quarters for 

 ourselves and fodder for our mules. 



The Monools were polite, and offered us shelter 

 for one night only, this being the custom. More 

 they dared not do, or they would be held re- 

 sponsible for our actions. It was plain that they 

 were suspicious of us, and my explanation that 

 we were collecting small animals only seemed 

 to deepen their suspicions. Evidently they had 

 not yet experienced the eccentricities of white 

 men. 



At last we decided to take what we could get, 

 and as we could not bring ourselves to sleep in the 

 hut with the natives, we put up our beds inside 

 the willow fence. 



We were next invited to take some salted tea, 

 in which parched millet was steeped. This was 

 not very palatable, but was better than nothing. 



The hut was built after the manner of those 

 occupied by the poorer Chinese, and, as already 

 stated, was enclosed by a high willow fence. There 

 were also stables and storehouses built of willow 

 stems plastered over with mud. The confines 

 of our hosts' property were marked by a low 

 mud wall, about two feet high, outside which 

 was a ditch of corresponding depth. 



20 



