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The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
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marches from Hami. We were told that these caravans took
from eighty to ninety days to reach Guchen, and some ten days
less to Hami. Dried apricots from Hami and raisins from
Turfan were apparently all that was brought back in return
from Turkestan. The ordinary charge for carriage from Kwei-
hwa-cheng to Guchen, I was told, was 16 taels (about £4) for
a camel-load of 240 lbs. This track across the desert is, how-
ever, only used for merchants' caravans, and the official track
from Kwei-hwa-cheng to Hami is by Uliasutai and Kobdo, the
one followed by Mr. Ney Elias in 1872. Soldiers returning
from Zungaria do so by Kiakhta and across the Gobi to
Kalgan.
We did not at first succeed in finding a man who was
willing to hire out camels to go on such a long journey with
so small a party as ours would be. Men had no objection to
travelling in large caravans, but they did not like the idea of
starting across the desert with a party of only four. But I
could not wait for the caravan which was about to start. By
doing so I might be detained in one way and another for some
weeks, and as I had the whole length of Chinese Turkestan to
traverse, and to cross the Himalayas before winter closed in, I
could not afford such a delay. It was fortunate for me that at
this juncture I had the aid and experience of Mr. Clarke at my
disposal. He was indefatigable in his search for a man, and
eventually found a Chinese native of Guchen who undertook
to hire me out five camels, to carry 300 lbs. each, for 180
taels (about £45), and to provide a guide to accompany my
party across the desert to Hami. A solemn agreement was
then drawn up, and it was stipulated that, for the above sum,
we were to be landed at Hami in sixty days.
To consult a Chinese almanac for an auspicious day on
which to start was the next thing to be done. The guide was
very particular about this, as he said it would never do to start
in a casual way on a journey like this. We must be most
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461
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471
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482
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