Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 157 (Color Image)

0157	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. vi.] THE GALPIN GOBI. 127

its dull monotonous aspect, fading away in

various shades of blue, each getting deeper and

deeper, till the hills were reached ; and these

again, in their rugged outline, presented many

a pleasing variety of colour, all softened down

with a hazy bluish tinge ; while the deceitful

mirage made up for the absence of water in

the scene, and the hills were reflected again

in what appeared to be lovely lakes of clear,

still water.

The Bortson well was reached on May 22.

Here were a few Mongol yurts on the banks

of some small trickles of water, running down

from the Hurku Hills to the north ; and it was

at this point that I crossed the track of the

Russian traveller, Prjevalsky. In his first, and

also in his third journey, he had crossed the

Galpin Gobi from the south, and passed

through this place on his way northward to

Urga. Describing the Galpin Gobi at this

point, the great Russian traveller says : " This

desert is so terrible that, in comparison with it,

the deserts of Northern Tibet may be called

fruitful. There, at all events, you . may find

water and good pasturage in the valleys :. here

there is neither, not even a single oasis—every-

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