12^2 
THROUGH ASIA 
absolutely out of the question. W e happened to be 
encamped beside the well of Khara-moreh (the Black 
Horse), in the middle of the open steppe, with not so 
much as a foot of cover to protect us from the fury of 
the tempest. My tent blew over ; and I feared it would 
be rent to tatters. The men made a kind of circular 
rampart of packing-cases covered with felt carpets, and 
there they sat crouched together all day long. It was 
impossible to keep warm. Everything was icy cold. If 
you spilled a few drops of tea down your furs, they 
instantly froze and became like stearine. My ink was a 
solid lump ; so that I was obliged to enter my notes 
with a pencil. A violent wind like that we had on 
February ist, in conjunction with thirty-one degrees 
Fahr. of frost (-17° C.), may easily be dangerous. You 
have to be careful you do not get frost-bitten. Had it 
not been for the Chinese hand-stove I have mentioned, 
I do not know in what condition my hands would have 
been. In the daytime I carried the stove on my knee 
on the camel’s back ; and at night, when I lay down to 
sleep, I took it in bed beside me. Nor is it any pleasure 
to wash yourself when the very water freezes on your skin 
unless you are remarkably quick over it. 
* The severest cold occurred in the beginning of February. 
During the night between February ist and 2nd the 
minimum was -22° Fahr. (-30° C.), and on the following- 
night -27°4 Fahr. (-33° C.); at the same time the minimum 
inside the tent was - i6°2 Fahr. (- 26°8 C.). 
On February 6th we reached Ho-jeh-to, the first 
village on the northern edge of the desert ; and on the 
following day we crossed the Hwang-ho, at a spot where 
the river measured 420 yards from side to side. On 
February 8th we arrived at Bao-to, where I met with a 
friendly welcome from the Swedish missionaries, Mr. 
and Mrs. Helleberg. They had gathered round them a 
little community of ten baptized Chinese and kept a school 
for boys, and were devoted heart and soul to their work. 
I never met pleasanter people anywhere. Along with 
sixty other Swedish missionaries, they belonged to the 
