Зо CHEERLESS SPRING. MUNNI-ULA. 



backs on the warm plains of China, and face cold 

 and hunger on the barren deserts before they can 

 reach their favourite northern haunts. Yes ! even 

 Siberia, awful as the name may sound to many, 

 is a paradise compared to these deserts ; its spring 

 is real spring, not the crippled substitute which 

 greets you in Mongolia. Here, even in April, 

 nothing reminds you that Nature has awakened from 

 her winter's sleep — everything is yet dead and inani- 

 mate. The yellow grey steppe appears as uninviting 

 as ever ; the carol of the lark or the song of the 

 linnet are rare sounds, and no other songsters visit 

 these plains. The streams are still waterless ; the 

 salt lakes drier than in summer, when rains supply 

 the evaporation, and the icy cold blasts of winter 

 heighten the dreariness of the landscape. 



For a little more than a month we journeyed 

 from Kalgan to the Munni-ula range, where we 

 determined to make some halt in order to observe 

 the flights of small birds and collect the spring flora 

 of these mountains. We had first intended return- 

 ing to the Hoang-ho in the beginning of March, 

 crossing that river over the ice into Ordos, and there 

 watching the migration of birds of passage ; but we 

 were disappointed in our expectations, only arriving 

 at the Munni-ula mountains on April 22nd, by which 

 time most of the birds were gone. We had there- 

 fore to give up our second visit to Ordos, and con- 

 tent ourselves with the Munni-ula. 



Here, towards the end of April, vegetation made 

 rapid progress, especially in the lower and middle 



