THE IN-SHAN MOUNTAIN SYSTEM. 153 



horses and camels. The latter suffered too from the 

 want of salt, as we had not passed any saline marshes 

 since we left the Kiakhta road, and we were there- 

 fore well pleased at the sight of the small salt lake 

 of Tabasun-nor, where our animals could indulge in 

 their favourite brine. 



The elevation of the country west of the Suma- 

 hada mountains continues to be very considerable, 

 but the supply of water is very deficient, especially 

 near those mountains which rise from the bank of 

 the Yellow River, and are known to geographers 

 under the name of In-shaii} 



This range begins on the plateau of Mongolia 

 near the town of Kuku-khoto,^ and forms a lofty 

 precipitous barrier along the northern bend of the 

 Hoang-ho, terminating in the valley of the river 

 170 miles from its commencement with the rocky 

 belt of Munni-ula. The wild alpine character of 

 these mountains is preserved throughout their ex- 

 tent, and they are distinguished from the other 

 mountains of South-eastern Mongolia by an abund- 

 ance of wood and water. Two ranges constitute 

 a further extension x^f the system to the westward, 

 still parallel to the ngrthern elbow of the river : the 

 Sheiten-ula nearest to the In-shan, and beyond this, 

 the Kara-narin-ula, from the river Haliutai to the 

 confines of Northern Ala-shan. Both these groups 



^ The natives do not know this name, and haA-e their own names 

 for different parts of the range. 



* In a wider sense, the term In-shan applies to all the mountains 

 from the northern bend of the Hoang-ho through the Chakhar country 

 to the sources of the Shara-murcn and the confines of Manchuria. 



