Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/86

66 the defence of Chobsen constantly wasted their ammunition in this way. The following day the whole mystery was explained. At dawn two Tangutan sportsmen appeared, asserting that they and their two companions had run away from us, that one of their party had fired supposing us to be Dungans, but that nothing had been heard of him since. They begged us to restore the bag of clothing which the lamas had appropriated as their legitimate spoil. These, however, not only refused to surrender, but thrashed the strangers soundly into the bargain, for their companion's impudence in having fired upon us!

On resuming our march, we fell in with an encampment of Tangutans, with their black tents and herds of long-haired yaks, called sarloks by the Mongols. After crossing some more spurs of the great range, we reached the bank of the Tatung-gol, and encamped for the night near the temple of Chertinton. The impregnable position of this temple saved it from falling into the hands of the rebels, and made it a secure place of refuge for the neighbouring Tangutan population. In the next chapter I will describe this people more fully; suffice it for the present to remark, that at first sight we were struck with their resemblance to gipsies.

The Tatung-gol, where we now approached it, about half way from its source, is a rapid stream 140 feet wide, flowing in a stony channel, in some places between precipitous walls of rock, but occasionally forming picturesque valleys, in one of which,