MONGOLS. KARA-TANGUTANS. 149 



country of Tsaidam are Mongols and Kara-Tangu- 

 tans. The Mongols are chiefly Oliuths (Eleuths), with 

 some Turguts, Khalkas, and Koites. Exposed to 

 the implacable hatred of the Tangutans, the Mongols 

 of Koko-nor are the worst of their race. In face they 

 are not unlike the Tangutans, but their expression is 

 stupid, their eyes dull and heavy, and their disposition 

 morose and melancholy. They show no energy, no 

 strong desire for anything, but a sort of brute apathy 

 as to everything in the world except food. The prince 

 {Wang) of Koko-nor, a man of some intelligence, 

 spoke of his subjects to us as only externally resem- 

 bling human beings ; as in all other respects absolutely 

 beasts. ' Knock out a few of their upper front teeth, 

 set them on four legs, and you have regular cows, 

 added he. The Mongols of Koko-nor have adopted 

 even the mode of life of the Tangutans, and live in 

 black tents ; towards Tsaidam, however, further from 

 Koko-nor, the felt ytirta re-appears. The Kara- 

 Tangutans outnumber the Mongols in Koko-nor, 

 but their chief habitations are near the sources of 

 the Yellow River where they are called Salirs ; ^ 

 they profess the Mahommedan religion, and have 



* Salirs or Salars. The archimandrite Palladius observes that 

 they are so named after their place of habitation. They are also 

 called the ' black-yurta Fans,' ' dog-Fans,' and ' Mahommedan Tangu- 

 tans.' Suen-hwa quotes a legend in which this people are described as 

 a colony of Uigurs. They are noted for their fanaticism, and appear 

 to be the backbone of the Dungan insurrection. They inhabit the 

 department of Ho-chau, near the borders of the Koko-nor district. 

 ' Trans, of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society,' vol. ix. 305. — 

 M. [According to a Russian work quoted in ' Marco Polo,' 2nd ed. 

 ii. 23, Salar is the name by which Ho-chau is known to the Ma- 

 hommedans of Central Asia. See 2nd ed. ii.^Y.] 



