Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 191 (Color Image)

0191	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. VII.] HAMI TO KAS H GAR. 155

tion of my journey from Hami to Kashgar

stage by stage. Each was very like the other

with but little variation. At distances varying

from ten to twenty miles a small village on an

oasis would be met with, but all between was

barren gravel desert. Away on the right rose

the Tian-shan Mountains, but they were quite

bare and no snowy peaks were visible from the

road. To the left the desert extended without

limit.

The villages were generally small and the

number of ruined houses, betokening the strug-

gles which had lasted many years, was always

noticeable. Small dirty inns, usually kept by

Turkis, were to be found at each stage, but

the accommodation provided was not inviting,

and in preference I used as a rule to sleep on

a mattrass stretched out inside the waggon,

while my meals would be cooked by the side.

The weather was hot, the maximum ranging

from 9o° to 98° in the shade, but the air was

dry and healthy, the nights cool, the thermo-

meter falling to about 64°. Occasionally we

experienced a cooling thunderstorm which

freshened the air and laid the dust for a

time.

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