20 THE POST ROAD. 



bushes there are absolutely none ; indeed, how could 

 there be, in such a region ? Putting out of question 

 the natural impediments to vegetation, the winds of 

 winter and spring blow day after day with such 

 violence that you see even the humble shrubs of 

 wormwood uprooted by them, rolled into bundles, 

 and driven across the barren plain ! 



The population in the Gobi Proper is far more 

 scanty than in the steppe country which precedes it. 

 Indeed, none but the Mongol and his constant com- 

 panion the camel, could inhabit these regions, desti- 

 tute alike of water and timber, scorched by an almost 

 tropical heat in summer, and chilled in winter to an 

 icy cold. 



The barrenness and monotony of the Gobi pro- 

 duce on the traveller a sense of weariness and 

 depression. For weeks together the same objects 

 are constantly before his eyes : cheerless plains, 

 covered in winter with the yellowish withered grass 

 of the preceding year, from time to time broken by 

 dark rocky ridges, or by smooth hills, on the summit 

 of which the swift-footed antelope {Antilope giUtu- 

 rosa) occasionally casts a light shadow. With heavy 

 measured tread the laden camels advance ; tens, 

 hundreds, of miles are passed, but the changeless 

 desert remains sombre and unattractive as ever. . . . 

 The sun sets, the dark canopy of night descends, 

 the cloudless sky glitters with myriads of stars, and 

 the caravan, after proceeding a little further, halts for 

 the night. The camels show unmistakable satisfac- 

 tion at being freed from their burdens, and lie down 



