T H I 



T n i 



would probably be a great similarity between the climate- 

 if the table-Undo! SJ>.MII \, isea, which 



isiiot lardi-' :' i. "in il, whilst i 



miles from tin- Pacific, which is tin- in The 



dim:. 11 Nanlu i -mich drier 



than that of Spain. Though abundant rains :. 

 perienccd in tlif mountain-ranges which enclose the 

 plain, and MIOW winter to the dentil 



i!ii- quanta .uul ruin which descends on the 



plain is very small. In th. MO lain 



and it is observed that when the ntmo-i 

 with vapour, ami distant objects au- indistinctly riil 

 does not produce any other e It eel than that of generatimr 



iiiely heavy gales, which arc often so stion:,' as to 

 throw down travellers and thrir beasts of burden. In the 

 Han-hai they raise a large quantity of sand to n consider- 

 nble height abo\e the surface. Along the Thian Shan 

 Mountains only two or three showers of rain are annually 

 experienced, and generally they do not continue above un 

 hour. The lain is very minute, and it hardly moistens the 



v of the ground. A little snow falls ill the western 

 disti -i. iii> never to oceur east of the valley of the 



Kaidu river. The moisture required fur the growth of 

 plants is therefore entirely derived from the mountains. 

 The supply of water from this source is indeed very 

 abundant, but only for about two or three months of the 

 \car, and it would only be sufficient for a very limited 

 agriculture, if the inhabitants had not acquired a peculiar 

 urt in husbanding this supply. In the districts south of 

 the Thian Shan Xanlu fiiounl : \oirs 



been made, which are filled by the w 



the melting of the snow, and from these reservoirs 

 the greater part of the supply is taken, by which many 

 tracts are enabled to produce abundant crops. The 



.ii disti ict.i do not materially differ from the northern, 

 except that a larger quantity of snow falls. though it is 

 moderate in the plain. The temperature of these distiiets 

 however is much colder in winter, and it is a remarkable 

 fact that at Yarkiansi the river is for three months covered 

 with thick ice, and caravans pa-., over it with their i 

 of burden. The heat in summer is \ery great all oxer the 

 country, but the cold of the winter seems to < 

 we proceed from west to east, as fro- Ijr known at 



Hami. The Chinese however state that the difl. 

 between the temperature of the summer and v.ii 

 very consideiable. The country is subject to eartln; 

 and several di.-t: ,-d greatly from them in IsiJ. 



when they were felt on both sides of the Tarta.shling 

 Mountains. It is probable that this phenomenon 

 occurs along the Thian Shan .Mountains, as an extinct 

 volcano exists in that range, and traces of volcanic action 

 :itly met with. 



-It is remarkable that Thian Shan Nanlu, 



h without doub: .My elevated above the sea- 



. produces all the grains and fruits which a;. 

 tivated in the mo.-t southern ] . which are 



situated at the same distance from the equator, and are 

 The olive-tree however has not been 

 ii'itictd as growing there. Sesamum. which is cultivated 

 in in lent, supplies the place of the 



The plain, as well as the mountains which 

 ' entirely destitute of trees, and even of 

 shnii ni tree- cover a 



small extent of surface, bn! they an- short and crooked, 

 and only good for lii It i> nut eeitaiu, though it 



is no stated by some travellers, that the true rhubarb- 

 plant gn.v.s im the mountains of the Thstnr 



All the dome-tic animals of Kuiope nbound. with the 



jption of hogs, which are only kept by the I 

 settled in the country: all the other inhabit. 

 Mohammedans, hold tins animal in abhorrcnc. 

 are kept in the plains and on the mountains. The i. 

 nl the Tarta>hliiig an I the native place of the 



double-humped camel. In the same mountains ti 

 b) the Kirghis ; the larger species of the do: 



d are found in a wild state in the d Tliian 



Shan Nanlu. This is expressly stated ol the horse, the 



I, black cattle, and the ass": the la-t is probably the 

 ''lii. |ims hemionus of Pallas ; ofthewild 



there Hppcarto be several kinds, hut the . enol 



On the us the 



argali U found, and on th. , ; ,^ the kulch-kar and 



the ntM above mentioned. The jackal is found in great 



numbers, and there are also ti . nxcs, and 



nut of tin 



aic not numerous, except water-fowl, v. ' .1 in 



the hikes of the desert and the s-.vam, 

 On the Thian Shall Mountains a black eagle ol 

 is met with, and on the Tartashling a still larger kind, 

 called sy rym. 

 Gold is said to be found in the affluents of the Ki 



:oe quantity is stated to be collected. H 

 .iing tothe account of the ' i the 



: portion of the Thian Shan Mounts 



ever it is n :unly 



found at several places, and aie worked, but the localities 

 are not known. From the volcanic portion of the 'I 

 Shan Mountains sulphur and Mil-ammoniac aie obtained, 

 and nearthe same pi., unids 



are said to exist in the eastern part of the last-mentioned 

 range. Several other prei 



i them, the yew and th 



articles of commerce to china. The nly found 



ill the eastern districts of Thian Shan Nanlu. 



1/i/inbitiiiitx. The bulk of the population is . 

 origin, and it seems that this nation must be 

 as the aboriginal stock of the country, as Thian 

 Nanlu constituted the principal portion of the powerful 

 empire of the Hiongnu, which w:: .1 by the 



(.'hine.se in the first century alter Christ, and as the 1 

 of almost all the different Turkish t: v er widely 



' this 



country. Travellers generally call the Turkish inhabitants 

 of Thian Shan Nnnlu, I'xbecks, a> they them 



exactly in the formation of their body [BOKHARA, vol. v., 

 p. 71], and speak the same language. It is howc\e 

 served, that the Turkish lanirua^e of Thiau Shan Nanlu is 

 not intermixed, as that of the other Turkish tribe.-, vuth 

 terms derived fioin the Persian an.: 

 and it is t , the Turkish 



dialects. The Memoirs of Sultan l!ai . :itlcn 



in this language. The Turks of Thian Shan Nanlu 

 are decidedly superior in civili/ation to the I 

 Bokhara. They exhibit no less industry than ingenuity in 

 the cultivation of the land, and the articles which are 

 made in their mannl'actoiies are of good quality and much 

 prized. Many of them aie also engaged in commc. 



They are at' present, divided into two tribes, Ak-tak and 



ak, which hate one another, and frequently 

 war on eac.li other, which circumstance is considered the 

 principal rca.-on of thi'ir inability to i -st'ully the 



invasions of the Oliiths and of the ( '1 

 two tiibes was governed bv heredii 



independent of one another. \Vlien the Chiuesv- occupied 

 the country, they left the internal attain* in the ban 

 these chiel i, r for themselves only the military 



department and the p ira> regarded the i: 



bouring independent states. The army which the (":. 

 ki'eji hi the country, and which anioii Jii.tHKI 



and .'iO.IKHI men. il commanded by Mantcli' 

 at the places through wlu-.'li the caravan-roin 



i. tries the . -ed half of 



Chinese and half of Turks. Uut all the other ofiic. , 

 appointed b\ the Hakim \l .ailed, but 



the Hakim liegs them ii or eonlirmcd 1 



court ol' Peking. The tribute which the Chinew govern- 

 n|ion the inhabitants is .small, but is .somewhat 

 the merchandise which is im- 

 ported, and which, according to the latest inform 



itants lumc ver are much oppi< 



bylheirna 1 . Chine.sc governiiient aji 



to take ii'j notice of the way in which the ined. 



For this reason thev arc- ill-dispo.-ed airain-t th 

 and this haired is still increased by the exten.-iv, 



which have lately been erected by the jfrati,. 



of the natives. 'Ibe Chinese meieliants v.l; 

 i hi'ie are not permitted to go to th. 



liich are independent .of China, and the foreiijn 

 i-onmurce u therefore carried on part . but 



mostly by the Tajicks. The Turk 



Tin' Tiijicks. or Tad- ''ion which considers 



the 1'. : s native II !uch is widely 



1 : central countries of Aiia, but inhabiti 



only a few mountain ly. In oil 



ti:"s their indust. .'ted to the cultivation of 



d, but in Thian Shan Nanlu they are chiefly engaged 



