96
rest of the journey, and of striking northwards to Suok on the Russian frontier, thus returning to Europe via Bisk and Siberia. The arrival of gloomy but unfounded reports from the south respecting the state of affairs among the Mahommedans, the fact that the Chinese Government were sending up a number of heavy guns to the Altaiskan settlement, coupled with the generally expressed opinion of the unruliness of the Hassacks, decided me to continue the journey as best I could in order to judge for myself whether the movements among the Mahommedans of the south had found any echo among their co-religionists in the Altaishan, and to report to His Majesty's Government on the means which the Chinese Government had at their disposal of coping with any trouble which might break out now or in the future in these mountain regions. I also had in view the fact that the Russian Consul at Uliassutai had recently visited Altaishan. Another fact, ie, that Altaishan was not indicated on any map and had probably never been visited by an English traveller were facts urging me forward.
Before leaving Kohdo and now that the garrisons of north Mongolia (Urga, Uliassutai, and Kobdo) have been reviewed, it may be useful to note that these constitute the whole military and police strength of China in Mongolia, that is north of a line drawn from Kalgan to Kweihuacheng, and continued to Ninghsia and to the east of the Altaishan range.
However efficient these may be as a police force (though I strongly doubt any efficiency in this respect) they are simply non-existent as a fighting force, and the fact that Mongolia has been in the past as is now held by such a slight force goes far to show that the Mongols have little desire or power to upset the settled régime.
SECTION VI-KOBDO TO SHARASUMÉ.
August 29-Numerous tracks lead into the basin in which Kobdo lies; besides the one from the south-east by which we had arrived, there is another from the east, while another leads up the Buyantu in a west direction, and another due north to Ulankom. We left by the Suok road in a north-westerly direction. The track being impossible for wheeled traffic directly after we turned off from the Suok road, my small cart was sold at Kobdo, and the journey resumed by camels and ponies.
Leaving the "fortress " on our right, we turned north-west across the valley, crossing one of the channels of the river, a few inches deep, but 30 feet broad a few hundred yards later; we forded the main stream three-quarters of a-mile away. This flows swiftly over a stony bed, is a foot deep, and some 25 yards broad; the water is clear. The stream shortly afterwards passes only a few yards to the north of the 'fortress," and bursting through some bleak "iron gates," bends north-east before turning cast to enter the Karanoor. Passing a Russian wool-drying establishment (there is another a mile up the stream, and over each the Russian flag flies), we reached the hills at mile 1, and began to climb out of the Kobdo valley, which we left 3 miles later. We now kept on the slopes of low hills looking down to our right on to the valleys of the Bayantu or its tributaries. At mile 10 we passed a small circular lake, and round this was the only good pasturage of the march; elsewhere the grass was thin and poor, and there was no scrub. We halted at the station of Sharabulak at mile 16. During the afternoon we met twenty-one ramshackle Russian carts in charge of four Russians coming from the frontier (180 miles away) to Kobdo to take away wool. These carters come and go across the frontier as they please, and are not interfered with.
I was surprised to find that even at this distance from Kalgan and Kweihuacheng, the only tobacco that is smoked is Chinese and not Russian, and that in spite of the proximity of the Russian market.
Chinese and Mongols alike dislike the Russian article; thus throughout the whole of Mongolia and Chinese Turkestan, not excepting the most distant settlement of all, Chaguchak, Chinese tobacco alone is smoked. Russian cigarettes are on sale at the Chinese settlements, and are considerably smoked by a few Chinese officials.
August 30.-After some 8 miles of ascent and descent over the hills, we dropped into the valley of the Shulakgol, a mountain burn some 20 feet broad and only a few inches deep. Leaving this a couple of miles later, we came over more hills to the station of Honga, where there was another mountain stream rushing eastwards to join with the Shuruk, the Kobdo River. There were a few families living here with their herds of yak and sheep, but there is little pasture in the valley.
During the march we overtook a Chinese merchant's caravan going to Altaishan; he was a Peking man with shops at Kobdo and Sharasumé. He pays customs at Kalgan
97
and Kobdo, but none at Sharasumé. He was to take twenty-two days over the journey, and to my surprise carried water with him. In reply to my questions he said that the passes were sometimes so difficult for camels that they often had to be halted to rest, where no water was to be found. He carried two old rifles; both were broken, he admitted, but being displayed in a conspicuous position, they gave his caravan the appearance of being well armed.
The next 19 miles were all gradual ascent over the Hongorellen pass, after crossing which we descended for 4 miles to the station of Hongorellan; here we were glad to reach fires, for in spite of the sheepskins the cold on the pass had been great, the mountains above us being deep in snow. During the afternoon we met a Russian caravan of six camels, bringing deer horns from Kissamoto to Kobdo: these are used medicinally in China, and have a high value. Half-way between the two stations was a curious place. A few yards to the right of the track and on slightly rising ground was an oblong hole in the ground, the sides being lined with pieces of stone; to the east of it, but adjoining it, was another similar hole, except that its shape was irregular. On the other side of the track, and some 30 yards from the holes were two pillars, one 12 feet high, a monolith of thin stone; the other similar, but only 8 feet high; there were broken remains of two others. The natives knew nothing about them, except, and herein all agreed, that at one time money had been distributed here. It seemed very strange, for in the course of the 20 miles, there were no habitations in the wild mountain valleys.
August 31-We overtook the gun convoy here; they had been obliged to divide the 24 miles into two stages.
Leaving the Suok road we turned over the mountains in a west direction, and reached a depression in which there is a chain of lakes united by stream and marshes, the whole being designated under the name of Telbonoor; we halted at a station of the same name 16 miles from Hongorellen. There is a good deal of saline efflorescence in the valley, but this does not affect the water for drinking purposes.
Telbonoor is the first of four Urianghai stations. The Mongols of these districts scem to be of quite a different type of face to elsewhere in Mongolia. One resembled Dante to-day, and wore a little imperial. Another old man was like an ancient patriarch While some of their faces are and wore a heavy beard, whiskers, and moustache. handsome they all look stupid; all are as friendly as elsewhere in Mongolia. Many of the men wear a plain silver ring in the left car; it is a quaint custom which they maintain until their 50th year.
The women do not wear any peculiar form of head-dress. September 1.-The wild weather of last night left the snow-line much lower than it had been yesterday. The day continued cold and cloudy with a violent west wind.
Keeping along the depression we crossed a small stream at half-a-mile, and reached a narrow lake some 2 miles long and a quarter-mile broad. At mile 24 we crossed the stream, uniting this with a lake further west, which we reached at mile 4. This is the great lake, Telhonoor. Keeping parallel with it to mile 6, twice crossing rocky promon- tories, jutting out on to the lake, by short but steep passes, we then turned west-south-west to cross a much more serious pass, a very difficult one for camels; descending the other side we kept over easier ground for another mile when began a climb of three-quarters of a mile up a pass many times more difficult than the previous one; one of the camels broke down completely here, and had to be left behind. From a point near the top of the pass we secured a marvellous view over the whole lake and the mountain system, while from a cairn at the very top we got our first view of the main chain of the Altais. An easy descent over the gravelly soil, only lightly sprinkled with thin grass, brought us to another valley some mile broad; 6 miles march down the pass brought us to where a narrow valley opened out on the south, down which came a small stream which, on reaching the valley (evidently an old lake basin), split up into numerous channels, and formed many marshes.
The waters uniting again issued at the north-west corner, and flowed through the mountains to the Telbonoor. Two and a-half miles later we reached the end of the valley, and the station of Kisna or Chagansala, on the edge of a tiny lake. It had been a hard march of 17 miles, and it was now easy to see why caravans have to carry their
own water.
The large Telbonoor must be about 9 or 10 miles long, and 14 miles broad at the widest place. The water appears to be clear. The mountains come down so close to The water evidently rushes the lake that there is no room for the formation of streams.
down where it can, only occasionally forming small channels of no depth.
I was anxious to know whether from the hills to the north of the Chagansala basin
20 [2155 6-1]
153