Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 139 (Color Image)

0139	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. V.] LAYING IN SUPPLIES. III

the 26th was finally settled upon as being suit-

able in all respects.

In the meanwhile there was plenty of work

to be done, laying in provisions and providing

ourselves with every possible necessary. No-

thing would be procurable on the way except

perhaps a sheep here and there, so we had to

buy up supplies of all kinds sufficient to last the

party for two months. Some people think that

on a journey it is absolutely necessary to make

themselves as uncomfortable as possible. But

I had learnt by experience to think otherwise,

and determined to treat myself as well as

circumstances would permit, so that, when it

should become really necessary to rough it (as

it afterwards did during the passage of the

Himalayas), I should be fit and able to endure

the hardships. So, besides a couple of sacks of

flour, a sack of rice, and thirty tins of beef,

which were to be our main stand-by, I had also

brought from Peking such luxuries as a few

tins of preserved milk, butter, and soup ; and

here in Kwei-hwa-cheng I procured some dried

apricots and raisins, a sack of Mongolian mush-

rooms, which gave a most excellent relish to

the soup, another sack of potatoes, a bag of

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