The first “outside barbarian,” other than Russians, who attempted this overland journey, was a young French Count, who traveled in search of adventure.  Proceeding eastward from St. Petersburg, he reached Kiachta in 1859.  After some hesitation, the governor-general of Eastern Siberia appointed him secretary to a Russian courier en route for Pekin.  He made the journey without serious hindrance, but on reaching the Chinese capital his nationality was discovered, and he was forced to return to Siberia.

From Pekin the traveller destined for Siberia passes through the northern gate amid clouds of dust or pools of mud, according as the day of his exit is fair or stormy.  He meets long strings of carts drawn by mules, oxen, or ponies, carrying country produce of different kinds to be digested in the great maw of the Imperial city.  Animals with pack-saddles, swaying under heavy burdens, swell the caravans, and numerous equestrians, either bestriding their steeds, or sitting sidewise in apparent carelessness, are constantly encountered.  Now and then an unruly mule causes a commotion in the crowd by a vigorous use of his heels, and a watchful observer may see an unfortunate native sprawling on the ground in consequence of approaching too near one of the hybrid beasts.  Chinese mules will kick as readily as their American cousins; and I can say from experience, that their hoofs are neither soft nor delicate.  They can bray, too, in tones terribly discordant and utterly destructive of sleep.  The natives have a habit of suppressing their music when it becomes positively unbearable, and the means they employ may be worth notice.  A Chinaman says a mule cannot bray without elevating his tail to a certain height; so to silence the beast he ties a stone to that ornamental appendage, and depends upon the weight to shut off the sound.  Out of compassion to the mule, he attaches the stone so that it rests upon the ground and makes no strain as long as the animal behaves himself.

[Illustration:  A MUSICAL STOP.]

A Chinese pack-mule will carry about four hundred pounds of dead weight, if properly adjusted.  The loads are not lashed on the animals’ backs, but simply balanced; consequently, they must be very nicely divided and arranged on each side of the saddles.

On the road from Pekin the track is so wretched, and the carts so roughly made, that journeying with wheeled vehicles is next to an impossibility.  Travelers go on horseback—­if their circumstances allow—­and by way of comfort, especially if there be ladies in the party, they generally provide themselves with mule-litters.  The mule-litter is a goodly-sized palanquin, not quite long enough for lying at full length, but high enough to allow the passenger to sit erect.  There is a box or false flooring in the bottom, to accommodate baggage in small parcels that can be easily stowed.  A good litter has the sides stuffed to save the occupant from bruises; and with plenty of straw and a couple