154 IN-SHAN MOUNTAINS; SIGHT OF IIOANG-HO. 



of mountains are physically distinct from the In-shan 

 proper, of which they are not, strictly speaking, a 

 continuation, other and much smaller mountains sup- 

 plying the connecting links of the chain ; this inter- 

 ruption is particularly marked between the Sheiten- 

 ula and Kara-narln-ula.^ Moreover, the former is 

 a much lower range than the In-shan, besides being 

 less thickly wooded and not so plentifully watered. 

 Again, the mountains which lie beyond the Haliutai 

 river, although of considerable elevation and com- 

 pletely alpine in character, are also unwooded and 

 form a marginal range, having on one side the 

 valley of the Hoang-ho, on the other a lofty table- 

 land. 



We entered the In-shan by that part called by 

 the Mongols Sirun-bulik, and I cannot describe the 

 pleasure we felt, after marching for so long a time 

 over bleak, cheerless plains, to see wooded moun- 

 tains, and to rest under the shade of green trees. 

 We started that day for the chase, and climbing 

 to the summit of a high peak we caught our first 

 glimpse of the Yellow River winding through the 

 great plains of Ordos. 



^ In my letter (see Proc. Imp. Russ. Geog. Soc, viii. 5. 174), I 

 said that the range on the left bank of the Hoang-ho from the Haliutai 

 river to the borders of Ala-shan, ' was neither connected with the In- 

 shan nor with the Ala-shan moimtain systems.' On a closer investiga- 

 tion of these localities in the spring of 1872, I found that there actually 

 is a connection between the Kara-narin-ula and the Sheiten-ula by 

 means of a row of hillocks. The Sheiten-ula are in their turn united 

 with the In-shan proper by the Shohoin-daban (i.e. limestone range). 

 But there cannot be the slightest doubt of the independence of all 

 these groups of mountains from the Ala-shan system. 



