Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 180 (Color Image)

0180	Among the Celestials : vol.1

14.4. AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. VI.

seemed to be in a perfect paradise, and the

desert journey appeared a terrible nightmare

behind me. The signs of life all round so strik-

ing after the death-like silence of the desert,

lightened me as a breath of fresh air. The

twittering of the birds and the hum of insects

in comparison with the quiet of the Gobi,

appeared like London's central roar, and I felt

myself once again to be amid animate nature.

Vegetation too was everywhere more abundant

now, and on the northern slopes of some of the

hills I even saw patches of pine forests.

On July 2 2 we passed a small square-walled

town called Ching-cheng, surrounded by fields

of wheat and some good grass land ; but when

these ended the desert began again directly.

A long way off over the desert we could see

a couple of poplar trees rising out of the plain,

which I fondly hoped might be Hami, our.

destination. We reached these at twelve at

night, and found a few soldiers stationed there,

who said that Hami was still far distant. Now,

as my constant inquiry for the last month had

been, "How far are we from Hami ? " and as

the guide for the last few days had each time

said we were only sixty miles distant, I was

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