Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 144 (Color Image)

0144	Among the Celestials : vol.1

116 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. VI.

always whistling or singing, and bursting into

roars of laughter at the slightest thing, especi-

ally at any little mishap ! He used to think it

the best possible joke if a camel deposited one

of my boxes on to the ground and knocked the

lid off. He never ceased wondering at all my

things, and was as pleased as a child with a

new toy when I gave him an empty corned-

beef tin when he left me. That treasure of an

old tin is probably as much prized by his family

now as some jade-bowls which I brought back

from Yarkand are by mine.

Poor Ma-te-la had to do a prodigious amount

of work. He had to walk the whole or very

nearly the whole of each march, leading the

first camel ; then, after unloading the animals,

and helping to pitch the tents, he would have

to scour the country round for the argals or

droppings of camels, which were generally all

we could get for fuel. By about two in the

morning he could probably get some sleep ;

but he had to lie down amongst the camels in

order to watch them, and directly day dawned

he would get up and take them off to graze.

This meant wandering for miles and miles over

the plain, as the camels are obliged to pick up

National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books