IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| History of the Expedition in Asia, 1927-1935 : vol.3 |
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Citation Information
By December 12th we had had more than enough of Unyen-usu. TSERAT assured us that this place had a reputation for severe cold and quantities of snow in winter, in which respect it surpassed all the other districts of the road. As BERGMAN was now so far recovered as to be able to stand a journey by car to the Edsen-gol — though he was still unable to do any mapping work — I decided to start for the west. Fortunately CHEN could take over the responsibility of the route-mapping.
ON THE MOVE AGAIN
On December 14th the convoy rolled off from Unyen-usu in a S. S. W. direction from the northern road back to the southern. It was only 15 km away. Our route was tiring, on account of the knolls and tussocks over which the cars bumped. A herd of »wild » horses were grazing among antelopes, but made off as swiftly as the latter on the noisy approach of the cars. The hills to the south were a part of the Lang-shan. Dried-up watercourses run from them in a north-westerly direction. The beds are soft and sandy, and probably more difficult to cross in summer. It took us nearly an hour to cover five kilometers.
On the southern road we met a man and a woman of the Khalkha tribe, resting by the wayside. They had neither draught animals nor mounts, but were going on foot; and we were astonished at the loads they bore. A baby, well wrapped in sheepskin, lay swathed on top of one of the big bundles, which also contained a tiny tent, clothes, provisions, and cooking outfit. Plate 8.
We had now gone round the Lao-hu-shan to the north, thus avoiding the »Tiger Valley », whose bottom is so filled with boulders that not even a high-wheeled cart can pass. Moving into the Serebon valley to the west, we passed a resting merchant-caravan from Liangchow, bound for the east. After unpleasant experiences in this narrow, deep-cut valley, the haunt of magpies and pigeons, we came out into open country again with a sigh of relief. Long grass grew in places, and at one of these we met yet another wool-caravan from Liangchow, led by Chinese sitting comfortably on their tall camels.
We drove past Dal-ulan-obo, where the Gobi-group had celebrated the Christmas of 1929. BERGMAN and CHEN pointed out the site of their camp to us. Here we passed another large caravan, laden with cloth, candles, tea, Hatamen cigarettes, etc. It was going via the Edsen-gol to Suchow; and a party of riders on horses and donkeys was travelling in the same direction. In this place stood a couple of yurts, inhabited by a Chinese merchant.
On the horizon to our left rose the Lang-shan, and nearer to us the little dark table-topped plateau Tebchi, where BOHLIN and BEXELL had discovered rich fossil-beds in the winter of 193o.
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