being told to pretend to beat the drums and blow the copper trumpets with silver ornaments, the largest of which are tr/2 fathoms long and are supported on a bench.
To avoid over-exerting the three horses I had bought in Qulja and above all to repair a couple of packing cases that had been dropped yesterday, I decided to rest here for a day.
The superior of the lamasery returned later in the evening from his trip to the hot spring in the Kok-su valley. He had spent i i days in this original hydro in the wilds with his yurt and had taken as many baths. The water is said to be so hot that you can only enter the spring gradually as your skin becomes accustomed to the high temperature. I thought the old man looked exhausted and that both his eyes were watery now, but he seemed convinced that he would soon be better, which is not surprising, seeing that he had been advised in Lhassa itself to bathe in a hot spring. I presented him with a magnifying glass which apparently gave him even more pleasure than the watch on my former visit. When I told him that I could not wear the Berke image, as the glass would not keep in the frame, the old man offered me another little burkhan in a brass frame, which also looked as if it had been worn for generations. Its name in Tangut is »Sebukmet», while the Kalmuks call it »Utunasta Ajusju». Its wearer is safe from bullets and can expect long life. In the evening my Kalmuk friends Nasumbatoff and his brother Djirgill arrived, both of them, and especially the former, rather drunk. Although I was anxious not to waste any time, I accepted their invitation to visit their camp to-morrow in the hope of being able to buy another pair of horses.
The buran-like storm yesterday turned into a snowstorm towards evening. During the May r rth. night the temperature fell to —4° R. and when I got up this morning, the monastery was Camp at surrounded by a snowy, wintry landscape. On the horizon the heavy clouds were so low Khargontu. that they completely hid the foot of the mountains and the latter seemed to raise their
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