FROM KOKO-NOR TO TEN-KAR 1171 
hundred riders, most of them men, many armed with guns 
and all with swords ; but there were also numerous wmmen 
in the train, wearing picturesque dresses of dark blue and 
red, as well as half-ofrown children. The caravan embraced 
at least a thousand horses and some three hundred camels ; 
and they were laden with such commodities as flour, 
macaroni, clothes, utensils, boots, and so forth. The 
caravan animals marched in closely packed troops of ten 
abreast, so as not to be too widely spread out in case 
of an attack. On each flank, and evenly distributed along 
the whole line, rode the escort of at least 150 guns, 
eloquent testimony to the extreme insecurity of the roads 
in the country of the Tanguts. Each troop as it came 
along raised a light cloud of dust ; the ground echoed 
with a dull rumbling noise, as it was beaten by the 
multitude of hoofs. The whole made a picture full of 
life and colour. As one after the other the Mongols 
caught sight of me, there arose reiterated cries of “Ortiss! 
Oruss !" (Russian! Russian!). 
Such an enormous caravan must however play havoc 
with the pastures all along the road ; especially as they 
make excessively short marches and travel very slowly, 
their pace being regulated by the pace at which the camels 
travel. One other thing struck me, namely the ridiculously 
light burdens with which they loaded their animals. The 
horses carried only two small packages each, equalling 
in weight about one-third of the burden that would be 
borne by a moderately laden horse. And not only do the 
Mongols eat up the grass of the Tanguts whilst travelling 
through their country ; they at the same time spare their 
own pastures at home. 
The stream coursed down its valley through a series 
of abrupt windings, and as it advanced, the slopes grew 
steeper, a fact evidenced by the increasing number of 
rapids and cascades. In one place the current pressed 
close in against the granite cliffs of the right bank, boiling 
and hissinc with a thunderous roar. 1 here the road wms 
carried across the stream on a sort of threshold or ridge 
of rock immediately above the foaming rapids. In 
