with a rawhide to a double A-shaped frame which fits loosely over
a second saddle on the animal's back and is held in place by its own
weight. If a mule falls the pack comes off and, moreover, it can be easily
removed if the road is bad or whenever a stop is made. It has the great
disadvantage, however, of giving the horses serious back sores which
receive but scanty attention from the _mafus_ (muleteers).

When we were fairly started upon our long ride to Ta-li Fu the time slipped
by in a succession of delightful days. Since this was the main caravan
route the _mafus_ had regular stages beyond which they would not go. If we
did not stop for luncheon the march could be ended early in the afternoon
and we could settle ourselves for the night in a temple which always proved
a veritable "haven of rest" after a long day in the saddle. A few pages
from my wife's "Journal" of September fifteenth describes our camp at
Lu-ho-we and our life on the road to Ta-li Fu.

We are sitting on the porch of an old, old temple. It is on a hilltop
in a forest grove with the gray-walled town lying at our feet. The sun
is flooding the flower-filled courtyard and throwing bars of golden
light through the twisted branches of a bent old pine, over the stone
well, and into the dim recesses behind the altar where a benevolent
idol grins down upon us.

We have been in the saddle for eight hours and it is enchanting to rest
in this peaceful, aged temple. Outside children are shouting and
laughing but all is quiet here save for the drip of water in the well,
and the chatter of a magpie on the pine tree. Today we made the stage
in one long march and now we can rest and browse among our books or
wander with a gun along the cool, tree-shaded paths.

The sun is hot at midday, although the mornings and evenings are cold,
and tonight we shall build a fragrant fire of yellow pine, and talk for
an hour before we go to sleep upon the porch where we can see the moon
come up and the stars shining so low that they seem like tiny lanterns
in the sky.

It is seven days since we left Yuen-nan Fu and each night we have come
to temples such as this. There is an inexpressible charm about them,
lying asleep, as it were, among the trees of their courtyards, with
stately, pillared porches, and picturesque gables upturned to the sky.
They seem so very, very old and filled with such