1238 
THROUGH ASIA 
put me in mind of the Kizil-kum of the Kirghiz, for the 
words mean the same thing. 
The next day we reached, across an absolutely barren 
desert, the most northerly point of the route, namely 
Koko-burtu. During that day’s march we met only one 
solitary Mongol, dressed in neat blue furs, a dagger at 
his side in a silver-mounted sheath, riding a magnificent 
long-haired male camel, which went along at a grand 
pace. During the night we again heard the tinkle of 
camels bells, and a large caravan came and encamped 
round the well, dhe bales and pack-saddles were piled 
up in heaps, the camels were turned loose to graze, tents 
were pitched, fires made, and the Chinese shouted and 
squabbled — on the whole quite a picturesque scene in the 
midst of the desert and the darkness of the night. 
The camel-caravans travelling between Ning-sha and 
Liang-chow-fu prefer this long route through the desert 
to the far shorter road on the south, principally to escape 
the toll-houses, the rest-house (inn) expenses, and other 
disbursements which are associated with a journey through 
inhabited regions. Along the more northerly route they 
are exempt from all these expenses, for they carry pro- 
visions with them for the whole of the journey, chietly 
large bread-cakes, while the camels provide their own 
sustenance, browsing upon the hard dry desert plants. As 
a rule the caravans start about three o’clock in the after- 
noon, so as to allow the camels to feed as long as it is 
light ; then they travel all night. The men prepare their 
suppers when they reach the wells; it consisted of tea and 
mien, a kind of soup made of dried meat and vegetables, 
with bread crumbled into it. During the stage to Arten- 
tollga acro.s.s a gently undulating steppe, we caught the 
first glimjDses of the Ala-shan Mountains in the east. Each 
well on the route was provided with a wooden trough for 
the animals to drink out of, and each caravan carried a 
bucket, made of woven withe.s, to fill the trough with. 
Then we had a broad hard road, winding like a yellow 
ribbon across the steppe, all the way to Wang-yeh-fu, which 
we reached via the well of Hashato.on January 12th. 
