I 120 
THROUGH ASIA 
Instead of continuing on towards the north-east, which 
would have been shorter, I preferred to skirt the western 
shore of the lake, so as to get an idea of its general shape, 
and examine the mouths of the streams which feed it. 
We therefore rode down the hill, and followed a narrow 
strip of level ground close alongside the water ; thus we 
had the whole of the beautiful blue lake immediately on 
our right. Its surface was diversified with two or three 
islands, and out on the waters floated a flock of majestic 
swans, their plumage a dazzling white. The opposite 
shores were very plainly marked, and at the north-east 
angle of the lake stood the fine Tsagan-obo (White Mound 
of Offerings). 
The water of the lake was inconceivably salt. Its 
shores, together with the scanty tufts of grass which grew 
on them, were powdered with white, as though coated with 
rime frost. At length we reached a spot where the reeds 
grew tall and luxuriant amongst the thickets. There we 
found fresh water. Indeed the place was known as 
Tsagan-namaga (the White Springs). There we pitched 
our tents, and a pleasant camping-station it proved to 
be. I now understood how the lake acquired its name of 
the Fat Lake. Loppsen explained, that whoever rested 
beside it found everything he needed — water, grass, fuel, 
in fact the fat of the land. 
What a splendid scene it was, and what a rich variety 
of colour ! As the sun set, the hills and terraces on the 
opposite shore glowed brick-red across the vivid blue sheet 
of water, on which the noble swans floated in placid 
unconcern. Nor did the scene lose anything of its beauty 
under the magic rays of the moon. The goddess of the 
night shone with a dazzling splendour amongst the light 
cloud skirmi.shers that flecked the sky. Not a breath 
stirred along the glassy surface of the lake. The tent and 
tamarisks, ringed round with black reed-beds, stood out in 
bold and sharp-cut relief, whilst on the shore, down by the 
water’s edge, the salt deposits glistened like new-fallen 
snow. As I wandered in lonely mood by the brink of the 
lake, my glance flitted dreamily across it, and my spirit 
