he hills as far as the eye can
reach." From Kalgan they travelled westwards to Taitong; here they saw
huge caravans of camels laden with tea going towards Russia. Here they
were forced to have the axle trees of their carts widened, for they had
come into a great part of the country where the wheels were set wider
than in the provinces whence they came. Their carts, therefore, no
longer fitted into the deep ruts which had been worn into the terribly
bad roads. The main object of their journey was to find out if there was
in the Inner Wall any pass besides the Tchatiaou which on that side of
the country led from the Russian territory to Pekin. It was not until
they reached Taiyuen that they struck the road that led to Pekin or
Tientsin.

Their first bit of trouble on this somewhat venturesome tour occurred at
Taiyneu; when the bill was brought for their night's entertainment, they
found it was most exorbitant. They saw they were likely to have trouble,
so they sent on the carts with luggage and waited at this strange
hostelry till they believed they had got well out of the way. Then they
offered what they believed was a reasonable amount in payment of their
bill. It was refused. They then tried to mount their horses but the
people at the Inn stopped them. Major Gordon hereupon drew his revolver
more for show than for use, for he allowed them to take it from him. He
then said, "Let us go to the Mandarin's house." To this consent was
given, and the two wide-awake English officers walked alongside their
horses. On the way Gordon said to his companion "are you ready to
mount?" "Yes" he replied. So they mounted quietly, and went on with the
people. When they reached the Mandarin's, they turned their horses and
galloped off after their carts as fast as they could, having paid what
they believed a reasonable amount for expenses. The people yelled and
rushed after them, but it was too late. Some distance from the place
where they had spent the night they came upon the pass over the mountains
which led down into the country, drained by the great Peiho river. "The
descent" says Gordon, "was terrible, and the cold so intense that raw
eggs were frozen as hard as if they had been boiled half an hour." To
add to their troubles, the carts they had sent on in front had been
attacked by robbers. They, however, with many difficulties managed to
reach Tientsin in safety; their leave of absence had been exceeded by
about