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0448 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
中国砂漠地帯の遺跡 : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / 448 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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mountains. So the prospects were decidedly gloomy when
I retired to rest about midnight. No water had come
down our little stream, and I could not indulge in illusions
about the liquor serving for my late tea and dinner.
Next day I lost no time in sending Chiang to the
Magistrate's quarters. Long hours passed without either
ponies or news turning up to relieve the strain. I used
the time busily for a home mail which this time was to
go eastwards, to the newly opened Imperial Post Office
at Lan-chou, and thence via Tien-tsin and the Trans-
Siberian railway. That those letters arrived in England
by the first week of October speaks well for the working
of the modern postal service established by the Chinese
Customs Department. While my thoughts were travelling
far away, things on the spot had taken a more promising
turn. By mid-day Chiang arrived with the news that the
Magistrate had managed to retain half of the Su-chou
animals, and that great efforts were being made to raise
the rest of the transport around Chin-fo-ssŭ.
But concessions were asked for on my part. It was
easy to agree and to double the rate of hire we had paid about
Tun-huang and elsewhere. But more difficult was it to
comply with the demand that each load was to be reduced
by one-half. I had already at Su-chou deposited all equip-
ment not likely to be needed for a month or two, and had
now little to spare, except the bulk of the silver I had
taken from the Su-chou Ya-mên. Fortunately two people
of our party could safely be left behind. For Naik Ram
Singh's services there was little use in the mountains, and
with him I could send to Kan-chou also Ahmad, the inter-
preter. Assured of the help of a Chinese-speaking com-
panion, the Naik greeted the temporary separation with
equanimity if not satisfaction. A few weeks' stay in Kan-
chou town would give him a good rest. There was also
the attraction of cooking his meals after his own Jat tastes,
which different caste rules had not always allowed to be
followed in the common ménage with the Surveyor. In
regard to sugar and clarified butter he had great arrears
to make up, and I hoped that the resources of Kan-chou
would allow him fully to use his carte blanche.