The Tian Shen range acts as a border between the Dzungarian Basin and the Taklamakan Desert to the west. The Taklamakan is deemed separate from the Gobi because of its sandy basin surrounded by high mountain ranges. Excerpt from "Among the Celestials" Travel Journal 1898 April 26th, left Kwei-hwa-cheng in a party of four, headed for Hami, in Chinese Turkestan, across the Gobi Desert on a journey that would take 10 weeks. May 22nd: Reached the Bortson well, which gave us a much needed rest and grazing for the camels. Only now do I have the time to set down an extraordinary encounter. Just two days prior, we had been traveling since early afternoon and the sun was close to the horizon. The wind was blowing, but not as fiercely as it had earlier. We spotted a grouping of tall, columnar red rocks which my guide studiously ignored, but being of a curious nature, I steered my camel in that direction to have a look. Approaching, I saw a hare bolt out of the bush and I pulled my pistol for a shot. Suddenly a woman appeared, brandishing a sword in what I could only consider a threatening manner. I should have turned and left, but I found myself quite taken aback by the sight of her. This was not a Mongol, nor any nomad common to the region, and by my honor I swear she looked a proper European woman in her face, with red hair and pale skin. Rudely perhaps, I merely stared at the sight until my guide appeared, shaking me out of my revery. He told me to leave quickly, this place was sacred. How could I leave her, apparently alone, a fellow European from the look of it? I turned to argue with my guide and when I turned back, she was nowhere to be seen, as if the very desert had swallowed her. Her face haunts me, both in sleep and waking, I can still see her eyes, a hint of unshed tears making them shine. My guide will not speak of her, indeed, he insists I merely dreamt it. --Captain Francis Younghusband, 1886 Note: While this is based on a real expedition, the encounter with the woman is fiction, although there are red haired mummies that have been found in that region.