riioti) l)y Ktliaa C. I.c Muiiyon 

 THK OVKKLAND I'RKIGHT CAkRlliKS Ol' ASIA 

 Note that the road is not a boulevard even here 



track was in most cases 6 to 12 inches 

 l;^wer than the inside ; so that the car was 

 always on the verge of upsetting. 



One of the native carts which passed 

 us had two bullocks and two Mongolian 

 horses hitched to it, while it carried only 

 about 100 to 150 pounds of goods. Even 

 with all this motive power, it was all the 

 driver could do to get up the hill, the 

 grade was so steep. 



After crossing a sea of mud, where the 

 ruts were not less than 8 inches deep, we 

 arrived at a native inn. We ran the car 

 in the yard, which was also deep in mud 

 and refuse. Here, as at the first inn, 

 after a great deal of "dickering" with the 

 inn-keeper, we were given a room to our- 

 selves. 



MAKING .\ BF.D IX A CIIIXKSr: IXN 



In this room were several bundles of 

 garlic and onions, pack-bags, and stores 

 in general. There was also a "kang" (or 

 brick bed), with a hole in the center as 

 big as a wash-tub. After filling this hole 

 with some of the saddlebags, we spread 

 our ground cloth over it and made a bed. 

 This room was next the regular room of 

 the inn, which was about 10 by 15 feet 

 in size, and contained one very large 



brick kang, on which slept about 20 Chi- 

 nese and ^Mongols, which to us would 

 seem impossible ; but the fact remains, 

 however, that this was the true number. 

 After listening for a while to their jab- 

 bering, which continued all through the 

 night, we tried to sleep, but had rather 

 inditiferent success. 



The following morning we did not at- 

 tempt to get an early start, as we wished 

 the roads to dry a little if possible. We 

 also waited for our second carter to ar- 

 rive from Kalgan. The first, who was 

 carrying our extra baggage, had only 

 been engaged to go as far as this, for we 

 had been told in Kalgan that the roads 

 would be hard and dry from this point 

 on, which they certainly were not. Carter 

 number two ])ut in aiijiearance abort 1 1 

 o'clock : the baggage was transferred to 

 his cart and a start made. 



During the remaining hours of day- 

 light we made as much progress as pos- 

 sible, arriving at a small Cliinese settle- 

 ment by the name of "^^eeota" (tem- 

 ple), where we spent the night in a much 

 better inn. 



This was a very interesting day's run. 

 as we passed through a section of culti- 

 vated Chinese fields where grain was 



6-15 



