a and Tonking.

We rode toward Ta-li with the beautiful lake on our right hand and on the
other the Ts'ang Shan mountains which rise to a height of fourteen thousand
feet. As we approached the city we could see dimly outlined against the
foothills the slender shafts of three ancient pagodas. They were erected to
the _feng-shui_, the spirits of the "earth, wind, and water," and for
fifteen hundred years have stood guard over the stone graves which, in
countless thousands, are spread along the foot of the mountains like a vast
gray blanket. In the late afternoon sunlight the walls of the city seemed
to recede before us and the picturesque gate loomed shadowy and unreal even
when we passed through its gloomy arch and clattered up the stone-paved
street.

We soon discovered the residence of Mr. H.G. Evans, agent of the British
American Tobacco Company, to whose care our first caravan had been
consigned, and he very hospitably invited us to remain with him while we
were in Ta-li Fu. This was only the beginning of Mr. Evans' assistance to
the Expedition, for he acted as its banker throughout our stay in Yuen-nan,
cashing checks and transferring money for us whenever we needed funds.

The British American Tobacco Company and the Standard Oil Company of New
York are veritable "oases in the desert" for travelers because their
agencies are found in the most out-of-the-way spots in Asia and their
employees are always ready to extend the cordial hospitality of the East to
wandering foreigners.

Besides Mr. Evans the white residents of Ta-li Fu include the Reverend
William J. Hanna, his wife and two other ladies, all of the China Inland
Mission. Mr. Hanna is doing a really splendid work, especially along
educational and medical lines. He has built a beautiful little chapel, a
large school, and a dispensary in connection with his house, where he and
his wife are occupied every morning treating the minor ills of the natives,
Christian and heathen alike.

Ta-li Fu was the scene of tremendous slaughter at the time of the
Mohammedan war, when the Chinese captured the city through the treachery of
its commander and turned the streets to rivers of blood. The Mohammedans
were almost exterminated, and the ruined stone walls testify to the
completeness of the Chinese devastation.

The mandarin at Ta-li Fu was good-natured but dissipated and corrupt. He
called upon us the evening of our arrival and almost immediately asked if
we had any