sed a party of Russians
en route to Kalgan. They were sitting disconsolately beside two huge
cars, patching tires and tightening bolts. Their way had been marked
by a succession of motor troubles and they were almost discouraged.
Woe to the men who venture into the desert with an untried car and
without a skilled mechanic! There are no garages just around the
corner--and there are no corners. Lucander's Chinese boy expressed
it with laconic completeness when some one asked him how he liked
the country.

"Well," said he, "there's plenty of _room_ here."

A short distance farther on we found the caravan which had passed us
early in the night. They were camped beside a well and the thirsty
camels were gorging themselves with water. Except for these wells,
the march across the desert would be impossible. They are four or
five feet wide, walled with timbers, and partly roofed. In some the
water is rather brackish but always cool, for it is seldom less than
ten feet below the surface. It is useless to speculate as to who dug
the wells or when, for this trail has been used for centuries. In
some regions they are fifty or even sixty miles apart, but usually
less than that.

The camel caravans travel mostly at night. For all his size and
apparent strength, a camel is a delicate animal and needs careful
handling. He cannot stand the heat of the midday sun and he will not
graze at night. So the Gobi caravans start about three or four
o'clock in the afternoon and march until one or two the next
morning. Then the men pitch a light tent and the camels sleep or
wander over the plain.

At noon on the second day we reached Panj-kiang, the first telegraph
station on the line. Its single mud house was visible miles away and
we were glad to see it, for our gasoline was getting low. Coltman
had sent a plentiful supply by caravan to await us here, and every
available inch of space was filled with cans, for we were only
one-quarter of the way to Urga.

Not far beyond Panj-kiang, a lama monastery has been built beside
the road. Its white-walled temple bordered with red and the compound
enclosing the living quarters of the lamas show with startling
distinctness on the open plain. We stopped for water at a well a few
hundred yards away, and in five minutes the cars were surrounded by
a picturesque group of lamas who streamed across the plain on foot
and on horseback, their yellow and red robes flaming in the sun.
They were amiable enough