of the escort for our convoy. We could be pretty sure that no robber band on the road to Turfan could be more dangerous than Colonel MA YING-PIAO. But he was not dangerous to us. Chinese we had met in Hami had told us that he had accepted the command of our escort in the hope that we should speak well of him to General MA, and that on our recommendation he would be taken into the general's good graces again. It was predicted, therefore, that his conduct on the journey would be peaceable. Doubtless Commandant CHANG was glad to have found an excuse for getting rid of a worse rogue than himself.