clever imitation of nature, with the single
exception of odor. The Chinese make artificial roses containing little
cups which they fill with rose-water.

On our return we found the gate closed, and were obliged to wait until
the ponderous key was brought to open it. The officer controlling the
gate made no haste, and we were delayed in a crowd of Chinese men and
dogs for nearly fifteen minutes. It was a peculiar sensation to be
shut in a Chinese town and fairly locked in. It is the custom to close
the gates of Kiachta and Maimaichin and shut off all communication
between sunset and sunrise. The rule is less rigidly enforced than
formerly.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF CHINESE TEMPLE]

After this introduction I visited Maimaichin almost every day until
leaving for Irkutsk. Maimaichin means 'place of trade,' and the name
was given by the officer who selected the site. The town is occupied
by merchants, laborers, and government employees, all dwelling without
families. The sargootchay is changed every three years, and it was
hinted that his short term of office sufficed to give him a fortune.

The houses were only one story high and plastered with black mud or
cement. The streets cross at right angles, but are not very long, as
the town does not measure more than half a mile in any direction. At
the intersection of the principal streets there are towers two or
three stories high, overlooking the town, and probably intended for
use of the police. Few houses are entered directly from the street,
most of them having court yards with gateways just wide enough for a
single cart or carriage. The dwelling rooms and magazines open upon
the court yards, which are provided with folding gates heavily barred
at night.

Apart from the public buildings the houses were pretty much alike.
Every court yard was liberally garnished with dogs of the short-nosed
and wide-faced breed peculiar to China. They were generally chained
and invariably made an unpleasant tumult. The dwelling rooms,
kitchens, and magazines had their windows and doors upon the yards,
the former being long and low with small panes of glass, talc, or
oiled paper. In the magazines there were generally two apartments, one
containing most of the goods, while the other was more private and
only entered by strangers upon invitation. At the end of each room
there was a divan, where the inmates slept at night or sat by day.
Near the edge of the divan, was a small furnace, wh