and all through November, the autumnal weather was fine and clear, and though the night frosts were sharp (-9° Fahr. in October, and -13° Fahr. in November) the days were warm[1] when the sun shone and there was no wind, and we enjoyed it the more after the constant rain and snow in Kan-su. Towards the end of October Lake Koko-nor remained unfrozen, only some of the smaller bays being covered with ice, but a month later the rivers, including the Baian-gol, were ice-bound. Very little snow fell, and the little that did fall soon disappeared under the combined influence of sun and wind.[2] The natives said that even in winter snow was rare in Tsaidam and Koko-nor; in Kan-su, where the weather is generally clear at that season, it snows but little.
After taking our leave of the Tsing-hai-wang, we crossed a barren saline plain, in which are the two salt basins of Sir-ho-nor and Dulan-nor, after which we ascended a spur of the southern range, whence we saw the plain of Tsaidam in our front, and the Burkhan Buddha mountains, which rose like a wall, beyond it. The atmosphere in autumn is so clear that with the naked eye we could see the mountains although eighty miles off, and with a field-glass we could make out almost every cliff.
Before entering the salt marshes we crossed a wide undulating plain which connects them with the
