Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/291

 questions or requests, till at length we would have literally to turn them out of the tent.

In the meanwhile the cravings of hunger remind one that it is time to dine; but wе must wait till the soup made from hares or partridges killed on the road is ready, or the mutton bought from the Mongols cooked. The latter, however, we rarely ate, owing to the difficulty of buying sheep, or the necessity for paying double their value; hence we mainly depended on our guns for a supply of fresh meat.

Two hours after arriving at the halting-place dinner is ready, and we fall to with wolfish appetites. Our plates and dishes, knives and forks, are of the simplest, and harmonise well with the other surroundings: the lid of the saucepan in which the soup is boiled serves for a dish, the wooden cups out of which we drink tea are our plates, and our fingers the forks; table-cloths and napkins are dispensed with. Dinner is soon over — we again drink brick tea; then we start off on some excursion, or after game, while our Cossacks and Mongol guide take it in turn to pasture the camels.

Evening approaches; the dying embers of the fire are rekindled, and we boil our porridge and tea. The horses and camels are driven to the tent; the former are tethered, and the latter, besides being tethered, are made to lie down near our baggage, or at a short distance to one side. Night descends — the heat of the day is succeeded by the agreeable coolness of the evening. We inhale a fresher air,