Anatoli slept in the car and also had a bad time, because the entire village came to peep in at him.  This area is exceedingly poor, but the villagers are having the time of their lives watching us.  They came to see us get up.  They believe that foreigners have webbed feet like ducks and came to verify it while we dressed this morning.  The roads are very bad after the rains, but we are going to make an attempt to get through to Dolonor.  I haven’t slept in a bed for a fortnight.  We got eggs from the villagers and we solved the problem of having no bread by mixing eggs with flour and milk and making a sort of hard pancake.

1.20 p.m.  A very narrow escape!  We thought we would be stuck for 4-5 days in the village, because the roads were slippery after the cloud burst.  We had the help of 20-30 villagers and what a relief!  We got out of the valley to drier hills.

First signs of Manchukuo!  Hurray, because it shows we are getting near Dolonor, which is near the Manchukuo frontier.  We have just met an ox cart with a Japanese flag flying on the front and a Manchukuo flag at the back - an indication that we are near the border.  It is beautiful country with larks singing everywhere and the meadows covered with wonderful flowers - just like a field in June.  There are deep blue larkspurs, butterflies, yellow and red flowers, and mountains around.  What a contrast to the village we nearly stayed for many days in.  We are exceedingly happy, because we are out of the region where the cloudburst was.  I really thought we were going to be there for nearly a week.  We are now in Mongol lands, which have been colonised by the Chinese; the Mongols have been driven north and westward.  Dr Müller has just come into the car with a bouquet of flowers.  When I hear the larks and see the June and early July flowers I can almost imagine that I am coming home to strawberries and cream!  A few days ago, we saw a herd of over 1000 antelopes; the hill was coloured brown with them.

I shall write this letter while we stop for the engine to cool.

Thursday, July 25th at six o’clock.  We were stuck in the mud again this afternoon, and now we are stuck again just near the river, which we must cross.  Across the river, a boy is waving a Manchukuo flag, although this is really China.  While we wait for the oxen and men, I shall continue to write.