| RECORDS OF THE JOURNEY above her means and it was to be feared that she would soon ruin herself over smoked ham and other rare delicacies. After covering i6 miles, during which we crossed the river several times on rickety bridges that rocked under the horses' feet, we reached Tchogu, a village of about 40 houses. One side of the river is inhabited by Dungans, and on the other there is a Tangut village. We stopped in an unusually clean sarai, where we were given rooms on the upper floor. Such two-storeyed buildings occur from Hochow onwards, and although the draught from the floor and walls is stronger on the top floor, you are more comfortable and less disturbed there than down below in the dusty and noisy sarai courtyards. In the evening i o or 15 young Tanguts collected in the yard of the sarai to take a look at the foreign monsters. This gave me, too, a good opportunity of studying them at close quarters. I gave orders that they should be given some brandy to make them sing. They seated themselves in a circle on the ground and one of them sang a monotonous, ugly snatch of song in a soft but hoarse voice. Two of the others danced. They adopted a squatting attitude and waved their arms towards each other close to the ground, then they rose upright and each turned about once or twice with the same movements of the arms, though higher, keeping their knees bent and moving their feet slightly outwards. The dance was slightly reminiscent of the dance performed by the Kalmuks in the Ili valley, but was more graceful and better balanced, though it was very clumsy and there was nothing infectious or inspiring about it as, e.g., in the Russian, Caucasian and other folk dances. Tchogu consists of 40 houses, 6 or 7 Dungan, the rest Chinese. There is a post of 6 men and the livestock consists of 50-60 donkeys, 30-40 cattle, and io horses and mules. Wheat, barley, tchinkho and peas are grown. The crop is 4 fold. Tillage is done with rainwater. Easterly burans in the 2nd-3rd months and strong east winds generally. Rain is rare, often changing to snow. Snow falls throughout the year except in the 6th month, but does not remain on the ground. The journey to-day was very much the same as yesterday. The mountains that were of fairly large size yesterday, were rather lower to-day, i.e. those that enclosed the valley — there were considerably higher ones beyond them, but no snow-capped peaks. Firs began to appear on the highest crests. The ascents and descents were, perhaps, not quite so steep to-day. There was grass on many of the slopes, although in no great quantity. My Dungan soldiers, however, said that the grass pasturage was good, which was natural, for mountain grass is always more nourishing than the grass in the valleys. Grey granite was visible on many of the mountains. The cattle looked small and miserable. The yak ox had already supplanted the ordinary ox, but it was a caricature of the fine beasts I saw, for instance, at the Thumu's of Huang fanzy. There were many bridges of the same springboard type. Wherever the valley widened slightly, there were Tangut villages and fields had been tilled, though the ground was very stony both yesterday and to-day. In turn we passed Kutui, Huvaizon tsong, Ungoa and Shaku sy, all of them small lamaseries with the exception of the last. They lay on the western slope of the river bank and each represented a group of closely placed houses with walls facing the river and painted white. One or two 555 ( | | | | | | | | | | | |
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