THROUGH ASIA 
1 178 
had run up a new house or bath. The high rectangular 
wall of the fortress was riddled with cannon-balls, and 
from the top fluttered Chinese flags bearing inscriptions, 
probably some grandiloquent paean of triumph over the 
capture of the fort. The courage and warlike skill of the 
Dungans was not to be despised, seeing that, though 
armed with no better weapons than lances and swords, 
they had yet been able to defy the overwhelming forces 
of the Chinese for such a long period. They were no 
doubt greatly favoured by the natural strength of the 
position, which was half encircled by precipitous moun- 
tains and protected further by the river, for they took 
care to destroy the bridge in time. 
The walls of the fortress enclosed a handsome Chinese 
temple, Li-beh-ya, consisting of several small detached 
edifices, each with the characteristic sao-orinof roof, turned 
up at the eaves, and ornamented at each corner with a 
dragon’s head and other adornments. The most imposing 
was however a pagoda-like tower of four stories. All 
the buildings were faced with green tiles of a tasteful 
pattern. Heaps of broken bricks and fragments of 
porcelain showed that the Dungans had done their best 
to destroy the temple. But even in its damaged con- 
dition it presented a remarkably fine appearance, as it 
rose proudly above the ruins of To-ba, its enamelled 
plaques glittering in the rays of the setting sun. Within 
the temple precincts were several Chinese, loading the 
bricks on the backs of donkeys, to carry them away to 
make new houses of 
The next day I divided my caravan ; sending Parpi 
Bai in charge of the horses and baggage direct to 
■Si-ning-fu, whilst, with Islam Bai, Loppsen, another 
Mongol, and four camels, I made a circuit to Lusar 
(Luksor). Parpi Bai therefore continued to follow the 
valley of the Tsunkuk-gol ; whilst we turned to the south, 
along a broad valley that gradually sloped upwards. 
Immediately after entering it, we crossed its stream, 
which was divided into five arms, and carried a volume 
of about 880 cubic feet in the second. Then for a short 
