National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

COOLER WEATHER

On the morning of October 7th there was a thin sheet of ice over the water in my basin, and one felt a snap of chilliness still lingering on the ground and in the air. MENTV'S shovelful of embers was therefore already welcome in the morning.

One noticed that the autumn had entered a new phase. The leaves of the trees had been yellowing more and more, and now they also began to fall. The yellow leaves lay around the mess-tent and inside it, and rustled pleasantly underfoot. The carpet they formed was a decorative element in our surroundings, and it was a pleasure for the eye to see this gilding, not only of the remaining foliage on the trees, but also of the ground.

One of the first results of the sinking temperature was that winter clothes were unpacked and summer attire was stowed away. At nights, too, one could hear the honking of wild geese flying south over the broad bed of the river.

DOUBLE TENTH FESTIVAI,

On October loth, ( »the double tenth »), our Chinese celebrated the sixteenth anniversary of the Chinese Republic. Burning speeches were given by Professor Sm and the students; there were declamations and music; and all kinds of sporting events as well as more amusing items such as sack-races, etc. were arranged, in which Europeans, Chinese and Mongols all took part. The day took on the character of a general festival, and a special menu was drawn up for dinner.

EXPEDITION TO MAO-MU

The inventory of the provisions showed that our supply of rice, sugar, flour and candles was drawing to an end and would have to be replenished before we set out on the long journey to Hami. The nearest place where these articles were to be got was the little town of Mao-mu, called by the Mongols Mo-ching, and situated on the right bank of the Edsen-gol 223 kilometers to the S. S. W. of Tsondol. Accordingly, on October 13th, MARSCHALL, Lm and MA set off for Mao-mu with a Chinese camel-puller and seven camels to make the necessary purchases. . At the same time they were to fetch the mail from Peking that Sm and the other Chinese members were expecting. I, too, looked forward to the arrival of these letters with a certain feeling of suspense, for I had written from Khujirtu-gol to our committee in Peking to submit some important proposals, to which Sm had also appended his signature, and to these proposals we might now expect a reply.

The letters that Sm and I sent off jointly to the post-office in Mao-mu were no less important for the future of the expedition. After careful deliberation as to

155