SPOUT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



projiarcd to t'acr all thr liirors ol' winter travel 

 tlirouiih :i praetieally unknown coinitry. 



Tliis was no light nndertakin<T for a woman 

 used to all the comforts and luxuries of the European 

 settlements in the East. We would be entirely 

 dependent upon Chinese inns, often mere hovels, 

 for shelter from the bitter cold, w^hile, even allow- 

 ing for a good supply of stores, the food must 

 often be of the roughest. Nevertheless, my wife 

 refused to be dissuaded by sympathetic but 

 sceptical friends from her purpose of accompanying 

 me. 



We hired seven mules to carry our outfit, and 

 engaged a groom, a cook and two boys to act as 

 servants. We ourselves would travel on horse- 

 back, for which purpose I secured three good 

 Mongol ponies. 



Our outfit w^as as good as could be secured for 

 the work in hand, and everything promised a suc- 

 cessful trip. 



On November 25 our little caravan left T'ai- 

 yiian Fu by the west gate, and crossing the Fen 

 valley, we entered the mountains due west of the 

 city. 



Travelling very slowly, we followed the same 

 route as that taken by the Clark Expedition as 

 far as Ku-chao, thirty miles west of T'ai-yiian Fu. 

 At this point we turned northward up the Fen 

 Ho. 



Journeying up the course of the river at this 



42 



