52 
A TWO MONTES TRIP INTO MONGOLIA. 
Tho scenery, as one goes through the Nan-khau pass, is very fine, and 
as the road mounted continually we had a severe day*s work on the 
second day. At the end of the pass is the inner great wall of China, 
which is fairly well preserved ; this wall is the one usually visited by 
tourists, the outer wall, which runs along the summit of hills above 
Kalgan about 100 miles further ou, is very dilapidated and not much 
visited. On the evening after passing Nan-khau, we arrived at the 
gates of a walled city after sunset and were in some fear of not being 
admitted. However, our “ boy ” managed to arouse the watchman 
within and shouted to him that we were mandarins wishing to pass 
through the city, and much to our relief the gates were opened and we 
entered in the dark. This superb lie appeared to cost the “ boy” no 
effort; indeed he was rather inclined to chuckle over it during the 
remainder of the evening. We relied for protection at night on our 
bull terrier and a “ chow 33 dog. These dogs are excellent watch dogs, 
barking at the slightest sound, but are nearly always cowards. 
A dog was practically a necessity in Mongolia, as we carried a large 
and heavy box of silver in sycee, a tempting bait for thieves at night. 
There being no coinage but copper cash, about 1000 to the dollar, 
one is obliged to cut off pieces of silver and weigh them when 
purchasing articles. The wily Chinaman has usually two points of 
suspension to his balance, one to be used when he is buying, the other 
when he is himself the vendor. 
On the third and fourth days after leaving Peking the country 
became barren, rocky and mountainous, and the roads terrible. At 
one part of a road which had been cut out of the side of a precipice, we 
nearly had a serious accident. A large flock of sheep was being 
driven in the opposite direction to that in which our carts were moving 
and with the natural perversity of these quadrupeds, they ran under 
the carts, between the legs of the mules, jamming themselves in to 
every corner. The mules of one of the carts became restive, and it was 
only by the strenuous efforts of our cartmen that they were prevented 
from rushing over the edge of the precipice, dragging the cart after 
them. 
We saw a few partridges here, and as soon as I had fired my first 
shot, the chow dog set off homewards at full speed, being arrested 
after a two miles chase by the “ boy,” whom we despatched on a pony 
in pursuit. 
Much to our surprise we were able to purchase here some excellent 
peaches and grapes, and these being absurdly cheap, we took in a 
stock. On the fifth day we reached Kalgan, a fairly large walled city 
lying at the foot of tbe mountains we were to climb to reach the grass 
country. 
Here we were obliged to part with a pony, which was hopelessly 
lame from bruised feet, and we purchased two new ones from a 
Mahomedan dealer named Yin-Si, who was extremely attentive to our 
wants and full of importance. Hitherto the weather had been mild, 
but, as we were shortly to mount up to altitudes of between 4,000 and 
5,000 feet, we purchased sheep-skin coats for ourselves, the servants, 
