strong paper made in sections showing all colours of the rainbow.
There was no want of due dignity and appropriate display whenever Mr. Secretary Chiang proceeded to pay visits to Ya-mêns on my behalf, nor of punctilious neatness when he penned epistles to Ambans on neat pink paper, carefully retaining ` office copies ' for my assurance. Yet the cheerful way in which he did his marching, and the humorous contentment with which he would settle down in whatever quarters we could get, gave me hope from the first that I should find in him that field literatus I had fondly wished to discover. It was pleasant, too, to notice how kindly he took to my Indians, and how well he could impress them with the fact of his being a gentleman. Indian attendants are quick to appreciate such a fact, knowing from experience that the utility or importance to their Sahibs of native clerical assistants is by no means a guarantee for respectability and good manners.
We broke the journey at Besh-terek, a modest mud hovel with a tiny patch of cultivation by the roadside. But there was water from springs, and the green of reed beds gave relief to the eyes. The poky little hole reserved for me was anything but inviting, and for pitching a tent it was far too hot. So I was heartily glad to establish .myself in the humble mud-built loggia which does for a mosque. Of course, I enquired from the jovial old ` Langarchi ' whether my stay there would cause any religious qualms. But of such there is no real thought among Turki people, ordinarily free from all fanatical prejudice.
All the same I did not fail to administer first a solemn warning to ` Dash ' that he was not to follow me into the shady retreat of the ` J amat.' Having thus satisfied my
conscience I took no special notice when my little terrier promptly ignored the injunction as soon as my bed was spread and ready to afford him the accustomed place of rest. After all, the Mosque was open to the invasion of stray dogs. So who was likely to trouble about the presence of so privileged a creature as the ` U lugh Mihman's' (` the great guest's') far-travelled canine friend
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