CHAPTER IV 



NEW TRAVELS ON AN OLD TRAIL 



The winter of 1918-19 we spent in and out of one 

 of the most interesting cities in the world. Peking, 

 with its background of history made vividly real by 

 its splendid walls, its age-old temples and its mysteri- 

 ous Forbidden City, has a personality of its own. 



When we had been away for a month or two there 

 was always a delightful feeling of anticipation in re- 

 turning to the city itself and to our friends in its cos- 

 mopolitan community. 



Moreover, at our house in Wu Liang Taj en Hutung, 

 a baby boy and his devoted nurse were waiting to re- 

 ceive us. Even at two years the extraordinary f acUity 

 with which he discovered frogs and bugs, which, quite 

 unknown to us, dwelt in the flower-filled courtyard, 

 showed the hereditary instincts of a born explorer. 



That winter gave us an opportunity to see much of 

 ancient China, for we visited Shantung, traveled 

 straight across the Provinces of Honan and Hupeh, 

 and wandered about the mountains of Che-kiang on a 

 serow hunt. 



In February the equipment for our summer's work 

 in Mongolia was on its way across the desert by cara- 

 van. We had sent flour, bacon, coffee, tea, sugar, but- 



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