He was appointed governor or prefect of T'un-hwang by the king of "the northern Leang," in 400; and there he sustained himself, becoming by and by "duke of western Leang," till he died in 417.
(16) "The river of sand;" the great desert of Kobi or Gobi; having various other names.

It was a great task which the pilgrims had now before them,--to cross this desert.

The name of "river" in the Chinese misleads the reader, and he thinks of crossing it as of crossing a stream; but they had to traverse it from east to west.

In his "Vocabulary of Proper Names," p.

23, Dr.Porter Smith says:--"It extends from the eastern frontier of Mongolia, south-westward to the further frontier of Turkestan, to within six miles of Ilchi, the chief town of Khoten.