43 ^ 
THROUGH ASIA 
were caravan bells and rang all the year round. The stars 
shone brightly in the sky ; but not with the same magic 
brilliance as those of our northern winter nights. A light 
twinkled here and there in the windows of the houses ; but 
they were not Christmas candles swinging on the fir- 
branches, only lamps fed with Kanjut oil, as simple as 
in the time of Christ Himself 
Could there be a more suitable person to pay a visit to 
on this holy-tide than the Swedish missionary Mr. Hogberg, 
who had come to Kashgar with his family during the 
summer? Mr. Macartney, the English agent, and Father 
Hendricks went with me, and we took a few small presents 
for Mr. Hogberg’s little girl. The time-worn lessons for 
the day were read, and the Christmas psalm was sung to an 
accompaniment on the harmonium. Then in the darkness 
of Christmas Eve Father Hendricks and I strolled round 
to Mr. Macartney’s house, where mulled wine and Christ- 
mas cheer awaited us. But shortly before midnight Father 
Hendricks went away ; nor could we persuade him to stay 
longer. He was going home to his lonely cabin in the 
Hindu caravanserai, and on the stroke of twelve would 
read the Christmas mass, alone, alone, always alone ! 
On January 5th, 1895, Mr. St. George Littledale, with 
his undaunted wife, and a relative Mr. Fletcher, arrived 
at Kashgar, and I spent many a pleasant hour in their 
company. Mr. Littledale was unusually genial, manly, and 
unassuming in character, and I esteemed it a great privilege 
thus to make the acquaintance of one of the most intrepid 
and able of living Asiatic travellers. He himself regarded 
his own travels with a critical eye, was always modest, and 
had no pretensions. He said, that he travelled simply for 
pleasure, for sport, and because the active, changing life 
was more to his taste than the gaieties of London. But 
with the journey he began in the year 1895 he has written 
his name indelibly in the annals of Asiatic exploration, 
by the side of those of his distinguished countrymen, 
Younghusband and Bower. 
In the middle of January our English friends left 
Kashgar in four large arbas (carts) draped with carpets ; 
