CHAPTER XCVII. 
FROM SI-NING-FU TO LIANG-CHOW-FU 
O N December ist, accompanied by my faithful 
attendant Islam Bai, I left Si-ning-fu and the 
hospitable English missionaries. As I was unable to 
engage a Chinese interpreter, Mr. Hall very kindly 
sacrificed his time and accompanied me as far as Ping-fan. 
Mrs. Ridley packed me up a boxful of dainties — cakes, 
tarts, honey, and jam. My new caravan consisted of six 
mules and three men, whom I engaged for the sum of 
fourteen taels or liang (nearly 45^.) to convey my baggage 
to Ping-fan. The packages and cases were tied once 
for all to a bent wooden frame, which was lifted bodily 
on and off the pack-saddle ; so that I only kept out or 
easily accessible such things as I was likely to want every 
evening. But the mules were tricky and refractory, and 
one of them kicked his load off and smashed the packing- 
frame to pieces. The men were even worse than the 
mules. They clamoured and swore the whole way, so 
that I was glad I had not engaged them for longer than 
six days. 
The caravan filed along the streets towards the eastern 
gate, through a crowd of gaping, curious Chinese, and 
so on through the ruins of Tung-kwan. A few new 
houses and shops had been built along the main street ; 
there too we saw some miserable Mohammedans, old men 
whose eyes had been put out by the Chinese, sitting by 
the wayside begging. The only inhabitants of the ill- 
fated suburb were mere ruffians and soldiers. The latter 
had wedded the women of the Dungans, and they, it 
was said, accepted the change of husbands with tolerable 
resignation. 
1210 
