Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 169 (Color Image)

0169	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. vi.] THE ZUNGARIA DESERT. 137

they belonged to Turkestan and marked the

end of my long desert journey, and the con-

clusion of one great stage on the way to

India.

Our next march, however, was the most

trying of all, for we had to cross the branch of

the Gobi which is called the desert of Zungaria,

one of the most absolutely sterile parts of the

whole Gobi. We started at eleven in the

morning, passing at first through the low hills,

perfectly barren for the most part, though some

hollows had a few tufts of bushes, and one

hollow was filled with white roses. After

seven and a half miles we left the hills, and

entered a gravel plain covered with coarse

bushes, but no grass. There was no path, and

we simply headed straight for the end of the

Tian-shan range. Through the whole after-

noon we pressed wearily along. Sunset, and

still we did not halt, for there was no water

for many miles ahead. At last, near midnight,

we halted for a time over the plain to cook

some food and rest the camels. To pitch

camp was useless, for there was neither water,

fuel, nor grass ; not a bush, nor a plant, nor a

blade of grass absolutely nothing but gravel

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