THE DESERT OF TSAIDAM 
1113 
east there was not a drop of water to be found. We 
therefore deemed it expedient to encamp. We also 
bought from them a sack of barley, which was greatly 
appreciated by our horses. Grain of all kinds is exces- 
sively scarce in Tsaidam. The Mongols buy their wheat 
in Si-ning-fu. Barley is grown in a few places, though 
in nothing like sufficient quantity. 
Loppsen came up next day, and guided us (sixteen and 
three-quarter miles) to the deeply eroded stream of Hattar. 
We now perceived distinctly a mountain-chain on the 
north also. Loppsen called it Kurlykuin-ula, and gave 
me to understand that it formed the northern boundary 
of the Tsaidam depression. That evening we had a 
talk about my contemplated journey to Si-ning-fu, and 
Loppsen was of opinion that it would take me thirty 
days to get there. He said that the Tanguts in the 
Koko-nor neighbourhood were arrant thieves and robbers, 
and that whilst passing through their country we should 
do well to maintain a constant watch. He wondered 
whether we were sufficiently well armed ; but when I 
showed him our three rifles and five revolvers, he was 
plainly much easier in his mind. He further warned me, 
that in the region of the Kurlyk-nor, and further to the 
east, we must be prepared to find a scarcity of provisions, 
for the Dungans during their recent revolt had carried off 
all the flocks of the native population. 
On October 20th we had a march of twelve and a half 
miles to Tenghelik-gol through tamarisk thickets and reed- 
beds, and across barren desert. The mountains to the 
south were now called Nomoghin-ula. The Mongols do 
not seem to have a common name for the range, only 
a series of local names. The streams at Hattar and 
Tenghelik, like those of the Bayan-gol, the Khara-ussu, 
and the Bulunghir-gol, which we crossed later on, all 
entered the salt lake of Hollussun-nor (the Reed Lake). 
The Naijin-gol, on the other hand, flowed further west, 
and entered the lake of Doulatsan-nor, generally called 
on European maps Davassun-nor. This name is however 
misleading, for it is merely a general name ; almost every 
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