Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/70

50 mortal, relieved him from his duties, and allowed him once more to mount his steed and enjoy his favourite pursuit.

The day after we joined the Tangutans the caravan started. We brought up the rear with our camels, in order not to detain the others by any stoppage arising from the refastening of a pack or any accident of that kind. Although the sale of our merchandise at Din-yuan-ing had considerably diminished the bulk of our baggage, the necessity for laying in a stock of provisions (rice and millet), which we had heard were unobtainable in Kan-su, besides other minor purchases, such as spare ropes, felting, &c., increased our effects so materially that we had still nine good camel-loads. It was now more difficult for our party of four to manage this train, being no longer independent as to our movements, but obliged to keep pace with the caravan. I tried in vain to hire a Mongol assistant, but no one would come even for a good sum of money. It was with the greatest difficulty that I succeeded in persuading some of the Tangutans to allow our camels to pasture with their own at night on payment of a rouble (2s. 6d.) a day to the watcher. As for the other work, we had to do it all ourselves, and could find no spare time even to think of science on the road.

We generally rose about midnight, in order to avoid the heat of the day, and marched from twenty to twenty-five miles, or even more sometimes, to the halting-place, which was usually near a well; but if there were none near, we would dig a hole in the