CHAPTER LXXXIX. 
\ 
THROUGH THE DESERT OF TSAIDAM 
O ctober 12th. At sunrise and immediately after 
our camp echoed with the noise, bustle, and excite- 
ment which invariably attend the first starting of a new 
caravan. The loads were weighed and arranged in pairs 
for the different horses, so that the boxes which required 
more delicate handling might ride on the quietest animals, 
while the heavier, coarser baggage, such as the tent and 
provisions, might be put on the skittish. Everybody 
in the Mongol camp from the chieftain downwards was 
already up, and eager to supply us with ropes and 
whatever else we wanted. The women gave us a present 
of milk, sufficient to last two days. Piven after the 
caravan had got a little distance on the road, we were 
overtaken by a young man, who had not been able to 
pluck up courage earlier to offer me his burkhan for 
sale. 
The caravan of about a score of horses made a fine 
show as they travelled at a rapid pace towards the east 
under the experienced guidance of Dorcheh. I con- 
gratulated myself upon having- such a string of fresh, 
well-conditioned horses. It was quite a relief after the 
wretched team with which we struggled among the lake- 
basins of Northern Tibet. 
And what a change there was too in the outward 
appearance of the country ! We now rode across a level 
steppe, covered with luxuriant verdure, and along a well- 
trodden path, which wound over the plain in easy curves. 
But on the left we had the boundless ocean of the desert 
of Tsaidam. The only mountains we could see were the 
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