Six days' journey from Moscow brought the party through Russia and Turkestan to Kouldja (45° N., 41° W.), in extreme western Mongolia. Having obtained authority from the Chinese governor of the province to proceed, the party, aggregating 15 in number, left that place September 12, 1889, with Batang, China, as an objective point. On October 5, after a journey of about 450 miles, during which they crossed the Thian-chan ("heavenly") mountains by Narat pass, they camped at Korla, near Bagratch-koul. Here they were warned that they could proceed no farther, and the governor of Ili sent an order to arrest them. The mandarin and other local authorities did not, however, actively oppose their departure, which took place during the night of October 10, the party then consisting of 20 horsemen and 40 pack-animals. On October 28 they reached Kara-douran, the western end of Lob-nor. A side trip by d'Orleans and Dedeken to Lob-nor proved it to be no longer a lake but a series of swamps and sandy islands, with the water nowhere more than four feet deep. Meantime Bonavolot accumulated supplies and replaced from the hardy Mongols the more timid among their camp-followers, the party being reduced to seven, with a few extra men for a short distance. Quitting Tcharkalik on November 17, they followed the route taken by Carey; but on the advice of the natives they resolved after crossing the Altyn-tagh to go directly southward instead of turning eastward, and thus to attempt a new route, on which they were beset by the usual physical discomforts attendant on travel at great elevations. On these mountain ranges they saw only wild sheep, blue hares, wild horses, crows and partridges. On December 5, just south of a large salt lake (Ouzoun-tchour), they, saw a caravan of Kalmouk pilgrims returning from Lassa by an unknown route, which they refused to make known, and decided to temporarily abandon their idea of reaching Batang and instead to go direct to Lassa by retracing the caravan trail. From this point (about 38° 30' N. and 87° 30' W.) they proceeded directly southward. The region penetrated was unknown, the winds {254} violent the entire day, the desert treeless and without water, the route lined with the carcasses of camels and their drivers, the only fuel the dung of wandering yaks or caravan camels, and the trail so indistinct that at times they marched by compass. The elevation gradually and steadily increased to 15,000 and even 16,500 feet; the mountain fever became worse, the storms more violent and continuous, and the temperature ranged from 7° (-14° C.), with wind, at midday to 30° below zero (-33° C.) at night. One by one their horses and camels died, and also an old Kirgese who followed them. Extensive glaciers were passed, from which flow on the one side the Salouen and Mekong into Indian ocean, and on the other the Yang-tse to China sea. On January 8, 1890, they skirted a large unfrozen lake named Montcalm, 50 miles long by 12