KULDJA TO URUMTSI 161 



a formidable fortress, as it is commanded by hills 

 all round. 



We were glad to,, have got over the first stage of 

 our long journey back to India, and a most un- 

 pleasant one too. The serais, on the road are not 

 nice places, bujt one is driven into them perforce, 

 there being usually no place to pitch camp. Later 

 on in the year, when the grass has had time to 

 grow up a bit, it impossible to avoid the main road 

 almost entirely by coasting along the hills, and it is 

 not then even necessary to go into Urumtsi, as 

 there is a byway from near Manas to Taksan. 



We stayed three days at Urumtsi, during which 

 we exchanged calls with the Russian Consul-General 

 and the amban. The latter had formerly been in 

 Kashgar, and appeared to be rather a good sort for 

 a Chinaman. I may here mention that the maps 

 we had with us arrived near Urumtsi at a pitch of 

 geographical inaccuracy which was quite bewildering. 

 Better ones may possibly be obtainable in St. 

 Petersburg, as I believe that a good deal of this 

 country hak been surveyed by Russians. 



Somewhere to the north-east of Urumtsi the 

 saiga (Saiga tatarica) is found ; at least, we saw a 

 pair of horns in the bazaar which had the piece of still 

 fresh skin attached to them, and were told that they 

 came from somewhere up that way. They are said 

 to have a medicinal value, in China. 



M 







