NATIONSADJACENT. 179 



The part of this defert which is clamed by the Chinefe^ be- 

 gins in Lat. 35° north, and in Long. 112° 30' eaft from Paris^ 

 winds towards the north-eaft as high as Halter Gobi, in Lat. 47° Halteb. Gobi. 

 and Long. 136. After running fouth-weftward to the borders 

 of India, it fkirts Thibet, the country of the Koko-nor Tartars, 

 and then the borders of the far projecting province of Shen-fi. 

 Thefe tracts were known by the almoft obfolete name of the 

 once potent kingdom of Tangutb. Rubruquis and Marco Polo Tanctuth. 

 travelled through, and defcribe its flourifliing ftate, and the 

 number of its cities. The friar is the firft who mentions the ox 

 wdth a tail like a horfe, covered with filken hairs, the grunting 

 ox, Hift. Quad. i. N* 8, fince his days fully verified. Polo, in his 

 road to Tangutb, pafled through the great defert, which he names 

 that of Lop. During night, fays he, the caravans are terrified 

 With, the delufions of demons which haunt thefe horrid fands. 

 The travellers muft be careful how they ftray, for they will 

 imagine themfelves to be called by their proper names by forae 

 of their comrades, till they are brought to the edge of a pre- 

 cipice ; and fometimes they will be entertained with aerial mufic. 

 Superftitions fitted to the dread of the place. 



It afterwards pafTes between the country of the Calmucs and 

 the Kalkas to the north-weft, the Ortus Tartars and the Mongols 

 to the fouth, imd concludes its courfe of above two thoufand 

 miles, from the borders of India to Halter Gobi, its remoteft ex- 

 tremity. The extreme point to the fouth-weft is not diftant 

 from the lakes Lanke and Manfaroar, the fources of the Ganges ; 

 and the lake which gives origin to the great Burrampooter. 



Even thefe deferts do not want inhabitants : fome pittance is 



A a 2 found 



