The Gobi Desert - The Adventures of Three Women Travelling Across the Gobi Desert in the 1920s

For 13 years (1923 to 1936) Mildred Cable and Francesca & Eva French travelled the Gobi Desert in Chinese Turkestan as missionaries. They worked back and forward, to such a point that they continually crossed paths with merchants and traders, and became an accepted feature of the desert. “From Etzingol to Turpan, from Spring of Wine to Chuguchak, we had spent long years in following trade-routes, tracing faint caravan tracks, searching out innumerable by-paths and exploring the most hidden oases. ... Five times we traversed the whole length of the desert, and in the process we had become part of its life.”[P276]

Although it doesn't receive a mention until near the end, their missionary work consisted of the massed distribution of bibles - “It was necessary to carry books in seven different languages in order that the Mongol, the Chinese, the Turki, the Tibetan, the Manchurian, the Russian and the Arabic reading Ahung should each be supplied with the gospel in his own tongue.” [P277] Sounds more like a logistics job than a religious one! To be honest, I was pleased this book wasn't dominated by religion - I probably wouldn't have stayed the course. As it was, it was a slow read for me, finishing several books during my reading of this.

There can be no doubt it probably does more to describe the occupants, their way of life, their beliefs and culture than any other book I heave read about this area. There is also the history, archaeology, the monasteries and the oasis towns, so really is a thorough examination of life.

While they were, at times, hosted well, they were predominantly travelling and living rough.
Their hardships were extreme, and they reveled in it. Well read, there are many mentions of the discoveries by Sven Hedin and Albert Von Le Coq, as the ladies visit many of the sites themselves.

First published in 1943, this book is credited as authored by Mildred Cable with Francesca French. The prologue states: “The following record of what we saw and found in the Desert of Gobi may help others appreciate its unique charm. These experiences were shared by three people, but for obvious reasons the record is written in the first person singular.”

The epilogue of the book refers to the Japanese invasion of China, the introduction of trucks on the Silk Roads bringing munitions to the Chinese - a new era for the Gobi Desert, and fittingly, the end of the authors' time in Chinese Turkestan.
My edition is a tenth impression, 1954 from Hodder & Stoughton and contains some 50 pages of black and white photographs. While the landscapes are grainy and forgettable there are many very fine portraits which are excellent.

I found some parts excellent and unputdownable. But for the most part it was just well written, very detailed, and interesting. The font and spacing is quite small, which possibly contributed to my reading it quite slowly - I must be getting old to mention this I suppose!

4 stars.