which interested them a good deal more than examining the things.
After concluding the inspection, the official announced that his superior wished to look at the rifle and revolver we had practised with the day before. At first I declined to give up these articles, but upon his declaring he had orders not to return without them, I surrendered them on condition that a boat should be sent to take us across the river. After an hour the boat appeared, into which we placed all our baggage and crossed the river, leaving my companion and a Cossack in charge of the camels, for which the boat was to be sent a second time.
After storing all our baggage in the yard of a house standing on the bank of the River and used as a warehouse for salt, I applied to the mandarin for an order to have our camels brought over and for a pass to enable us to pursue our journey through Ala-shan. To this he replied, that he must personally inspect our things, and accompanied me to the place where they were stored. Turning them over he selected and gave to his servant whatever pleased him most, on the plea of wishing to examine them more carefully at home and promising to return them to me afterwards. He took two single-barrelled rifled pistols, a revolver in case, a dagger, two powder-flasks, a lamp, and a quire of writing paper. When I perceived that the examination was nothing less than robbery, I told my interpreter to inform him that we had not come
