CHAPTER XCVIII. 
THROUCJH THE DESERT OF ALA-SHAN 
T length, on December 26th, I succeeded in pro- 
J~\ curing eight camels with three men, and once more 
had my baggage loaded up for another long stage, the 
290 miles to Ning-sha. As ill-luck would have it, it 
was Saturday, and it was quite evening before the caravan 
was ready to start. Had the next day not been Sunday, 
I should have waited until the morning. As it was, I 
decided to go on to one of the nearest villages outside 
the walls of the city, and stay the night there. But 
when we reached the gate, it was already closed, and 
they would not open it for us. We spent a couple of 
hours hunting about the dark narrow lanes, and at length 
succeeded in finding a wretched room in an inn, for I did 
not of course wish to dLsturb the Sabbath quiet of the 
missionaries. 
However we got started in earnest early the next 
morning, but had not advanced further than the open 
space immediately outside the northern gate of the city 
when two ragged Chinese came to meet us, and at once 
began an animated conversation with our camel-drivers. 
Then one of the men turned to Islam Bai, and in fluent 
Turki offered to guide us to Ning-sha for fifty taels 
(about i6i'.). He .said he had lived several years in 
Kashgar and Ak-su, and had nine camels, every way better 
animals than those we were starting with. An excellent 
interpreter in addition to baggage-animals — the oppor- 
tunity was too good to be let slip. We therefore waited 
in the middle of the road, while the two new-comers 
fetched their camels, and within an hour the loads were 
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