CHAPTER C. 
TO PEKING AND HOME 
T he remaining portion of my long journeyings, namely 
from Ning-sha to the coast, lay through a country 
that is tolerably well known. Hence I will merely touch 
upon one or two incidents, and hasten on to the close. 
Before reaching China proper I still had another desert to 
cross. Throughout the whole of my travels in Asia the 
passage across Ordos was one of the hardest pieces of 
work I did. I was weary of my loneliness, and of the 
hardships and fatigues of travel. The 740 miles which 
still remained to be traversed were done in forced marches : 
I was going back to civilization, I was going back to rest ! 
There are several routes from Ning-sha to Bao-to. In 
summer the most convenient way is to go down the 
Hwang-ho by boat. During the colder seasons the 
traveller has the choice between the “ longer road,” which 
follows the left bank of the river, and one of the several 
tracks which cross Ordos, or the region between the 
northern loop of the Hwang-ho and the Great Wall, a 
region inhabited by Mongols. The shortest of the routes 
across Ordos effects a saving of five days, but exposes the 
traveller to all the inconveniences of a difficult desert 
journey. The subjoined list of stations and distances 
indicates the direction and rate of my journey from 
Ning-sha. 
To Li-ngan-fu . 
„ Ping-lo 
„ Hwang-chu-cho 
„ Shi-tsueh-tsa 
„ Camp No. i in Ordos 
14 J miles 
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