Great was my joy when my worthy chief answered my application for a month leave to travel in Mongolia in the afiirmative, My next anxiety, was to Snd 0 compagnon de voyage, und he turned up in thie person of anuvalcatimablé friend, whom I shall call John. We immediately set about the preliminaries for the journey. Our first step was to hire two carts for the conveyance of baggage, provisions, etc., and of these we took as little as was compatible with comfort, so as not to be burdened with a long retinue. A "boy" (body serrant)and mafoo" (groom) were the only servants required and one was packed away in each cart on the top of preserved meats, blankets, gun cases, clothes, etc., ete. For means of locomotion' for ourselves we trusted to our ponies, and indeed this is the most comfortable mode of travelling in this mountainous country, or by mule palanin. A lovely morning saw us leave "aking at 5 o'clock onthe 26thof November. Our carts preceded us drawn by two mules each, tandem fashion, and in an hour's time we wore outside the capital of the Celestial Empire fall of our journey and the jolly time before us. The country immediately outside the city walls is of an uninteresting character, being very flat, very dusty or muddy as it may happen to ho dry or wet weather, and the roads are simply atrocious, being in a major-y of cases simply tracks formed by the carts themselves, and as this very excellent go ernment adopts no means of repairing them, an-idea may be formed of the torture experienced-by the wretched inmates of these carts which are utterly devoid of any spring. But still we had plenty of company, dust and camels. I tried to count these latter but after having passed some two thousand odd in a few hours I thought the process would be rather tedious to continue for a period of weeks, and so wisely gave it up as a disagreeable job, contenting myself with a shot at the number we actually did pass but I won't say what my estimate was as I fear I might create doubts in the mind of the reader. At 12 o'clock, just before we reached the town of Shaho where we were to tiffin, John's pony went dead Jame and there was nothing for it but to send him back to Peking by the mafoo and get another beast. This was 8 disappointment as it delayed us half-aday. Wo turned our forced halt, however, to some advantage and found in this curious old town much of great interest. No, not much, for if I remember rightly there was only fine joss house, a few farm houses and ruined dwellings to be seen, but still they wore a. frit exhibition of the terrible devastation caused by the rebel hosts. The inn we put up in was a good one in comparison with many in the country, and after we had investigated the contents of various tins bottles labelled "Bass" and wero.enjoy-a pipe, we did not consider this out first check any such great hardship after all. Dinner terminated the day and we turned in at 7 o'clock, prepared to resume our travel early in the morning should John's pony arrive. Weaslept fairly well all things considered and turned out as the boy announced Blekfast all Indy." Soma hours were before us before the mafoo employed running about the place but discovering little that we had not seen yesterday. At 11.30 the approach of John's pony was heralded by a troop of children shouting out ma tai, (the horse is coming), and as we bad no time to lose we gave the animal but a short rest and resumed our journey, passing through the town of Japingjao (familiarly called Jumping Joo)at 4 o'clock and reaching Nank'ou Pass at 6.15 p.m., having compassed 100 li or 33 miles of our journey.
"Toe country through which we had passed after leaving Shaho had gradually assumed more mountainous aspect and as Nank'ou was reached a fine range of mountains stood before us. Our mules were soon unharnessed amidst -the greatest confusion and noise by the carters, but we preferred looking after the ponies ourselves. Wo then selected the best room the hotel could ford and told the boy to prepare our dinner. All Chines inns are much of a sameness, differing only in a degree of badness.' The entrance leads into a square court-yard, three sides of which are devoted chambers and the fourth to the mules, ponies, etc., one large room generally be-sufficient for the accommodation of the inn servants and those of travellers.. The rooms are rarely more than 10 feet square and 7 foot high and have wooden walls and bamboo ceilings covered with paper. The windows are of the same material und are always in a chronic state of disrepair. The furniture consists of a table, a bench or two, and the kng. The table is always filthily dirty, the grease and dirt collected on it being scarcely imaginable, benches ricketts, and the kang lively! This kang is the sleeping place of all travellers und takes uj a sood third of the room. It is forme of brickwork, hollow underneath, and in the cold weather (as it was now) quantities of millet stalks are placed. within and set fire to; and no matter now intense the frost and cold without, and in spite of the admirable ventilation of the room, the occupants can seldom complain' of the cold as the brickwork quickly absorbs the heat and retains it. Our frum gal meal dispatched, we smoked, yarned, yawned, and eventually decided it was tim:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.