The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-10-11

O0I0d1 your plduS. 1uOSc WoSUoTA UaukoTS
who advertise to furnish letters of credit
to any part of the world are, to say the
least, rather sweeping in their assertions.
At any rate, our own London letter was
of no use beyond the Bosporus, except
with the Persian imperial banks run by
an English syndicate. At the American
Bible house at Constantinople we were al.
lowed, as personal favor, to buy drafts
on the various missionaries along the route
through Asiatic Turkey. But in central
Asia we found that the Russian bankers
and merchants would not handle English
paper, and we were therefore compelled to
send our letter of credit by mail to Mos
COW. Thither we had recently sent it on
leaving Tashkend, with instructions to re-
NIT in currency to Irkutsk, Siberia. We
now had to telegraph to that point to re-
forward over the Kiakhta post route to
Peking With the cash on hand, and the
proceeds of the camera, sold for more than
half it's weight in silver, 24h-we
thought we had sufficient money to carry
us, or rather as much as we could carry,
to that point, for the weight of the Chi
nese money necessary for journey of
over 5000 miles was, as the Russian con-
sui thought, one of the greatest of our al
most insurmountable obstacles
''There being no banks or exchanges in
the interior, we were obliged to purchase
at Kulja all the silver we would need for
the entire journey of over 5000 miles,
How much would it take?' was the ques-
ton that our past experience in Asiatic
travel now aided us to answer. That our
calculations were close is proved by the
fact that we reached Peking with silver in
our pockets to the value of half a dollar. "
When the young men finally entered the
desert, their real trials began. Zone
stretch of l 5 miles, which it took us six
hours to cover, was as formidable as any
part of the Turcoman desert along the
Transcaspian railway. At an altitude of
only 600 feet above the sea, according to
our aneroid barometer, and beneath the
rays of a July sun, against which even our
felt caps were not much protection, we
were half dragging, half pushing, our
wheels through foot of sand, and slap!
ping at the mosquitoes, swarming upon
our necks and faces. These pests, which
throughout this low country are the lar
gest and most numerous we have ever met,
are bred in the intermediate swamps,
which exist only through the negligence
of the neighboring villagers. At night
smoldering fires, which half suffocate the
human inmates, are built before the doors
and windows to keep out the intruding
insects. All travellers wear gloves and
huge hood, covering the head and face up to
the eyes, and in their hands carry horse
tail switch, to lash back and forth over
their shoulders. Being without such pro-
lection, we suffered both day and night.
1.-THE mountain freshets all along the
road to Urumtsi were more frequent and
dangerous than any we have yet encoun-
tered. Toward evening the melting SHOWS
and the condensing currents from the
plain, heated during the day, fill and over
flow the channels that in the morning are
almost dry. One stream, with its 10
branches, swept the stones and powders
over shifting channel one mile in width.
It was when wading through such streams
as this, where every effort was required to
balance ourselves and our luggage, that
the mosquitoes would make up for lost
time with impunity.
with constant wading and tramping,
our Russian shoes and stockings, one of
which was almost torn off by the sly grab
Of Chinese spaniel, were no longer fit for
use. In their place we were now obliged
to purchase the short, white cloth, Chinese
socks and string sandals, which for mere
cycling purposes and wading streams
proved an excellent substitute, being light
and soft on the feet and very quickly
dried. The calves of our legs, however,
being left bare, we were obliged, for state
occasions at least, to retain and utilize the
upper portion of our old stockings. 1t
was owing to this scantiness of wardrobe
that we were obliged when taking a bath
by the roadside streams to make quick
wash of our linen and put it on wet to
dry or allow it to futter from the handle
bars as we rode along. 1t was astonishing
even to ourselves how little man required
when once beyond the pale Of western con-
ventionalities.
From Manas to Urumtsi we began to
strike more tillage and fertility. Maize,
wheat and rice were growing, but rather
low and thin. The last is by no means
the staple food of China, as is commonly
supposed, except in the southern portion.
In the northern and especially the outly-
ing provinces it is considered more lux
ury for the wealthy. Millet and coarse
-four, from which the mien or dough
strings are made, is the foundation, at
least, for more than half the subsistence
of the common classes. Nor is there much
truth, we think, in the assertion that
Cinnamon. eat rats, although we some
times regretted that they did not After
q month or more without meat dish of
rats would have been relished had we
been able to get it. On the other hand,
we have learned that there is society Of
Cinnamon who are vegetarians from
choice, and still another that will eat the
meat Of no animal, such as the ass, horse,
dog, ETC., which can serve man in q better
way"