THE DESERT OF ALA-SHAN 1233 
faded away as we advanced and left them behind us. The 
weather was splendid. It was however the lull before the 
storm, for on December 28th there blew such a tempest 
from the west that it w^as impossible to put your face out 
of your fanza (house), which for the matter of that was 
destitute of both doors and window-panes. The sand 
and dust drove in whirling- clouds across the steppes and 
along the road, and half filled my wretched cabin. 
On the 29th we continued towards the north-north-east. 
The camels went first-rate, sure of foot and without refrac- 
toriness. It was quite a pleasure to be once more riding 
on the back of one of these hardy and splendid animals. 
But the ground just suited them, being a hard level, grassy 
steppe. As we advanced, the population gradually thinned 
away, the villages grew fewer and fewer ; but we still 
continued to meet caravans of donkeys and ox-carts, 
carrying country produce into the city. We were rapidly 
approaching the verge of the desert ; already there were 
low sand-dunes on our right. South of the village of 
Kho-tung-shing-go we travelled for some hours beside 
a marsh, crossing- a narrow extension of the same on 
the ice. Half-way across one of the camels broke through 
and fell into the water. Its load was however prevented 
from getting wet ; but it cost us a good hour to get the 
poor beast back safe on to firm ground. The sun set 
among banks of mist, and it turned bitterly cold (minimum, 
- i°8 Fahr. or - i8°8 C.) At length we caught sight of 
the walls of Ching-fan ; but the gates were closed, and we 
were obliged to put up with a rest-house outside. 
We stayed one day in the little town, that the camel- 
owners might provide themselves and their animals with 
supplies of food sufficient to last them to the other side 
of the desert. The governor of the place tried to persuade 
me to take the longer route by the south, where I should 
find people, towns, and inns. On the desert road I should 
encounter nothing but sand, besides the risk I ran of being- 
attacked by Mongol robbers. I sent word back to him, 
that the only annoyance I had had to put up with 
throughout the whole of my more than three years of 
