ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS. 153 



became more powerful, in their turn took to plun- 

 dering. 



* Had we but slain those three accursed girls,' 

 remarked the Mongols, ' there would be no Kara- 

 Tangutans now, and we should live in peace.' Ac- 

 cording to their reckoning eight generations have 

 elapsed since the Oliuths came to this country. 



For administrative purposes the district of Koko- 

 nor includes a vast region besides the basin of the 

 lake : viz. the upper Tatung-gol on the north, and 

 the whole country to the borders of Tibet on the 

 south ; or in other words, the region comprising the 

 sources and head waters of the Hoang-ho and 

 Tsaidam, extending a long way to the north-west. 

 The whole of this is divided into twenty-nine ko- 

 shungs (banners), five of which lie on the right, i.e. 

 western bank of the Upper Hoang-ho, five in Tsai- 

 dam, whilst the remaining nineteen are situated in 

 the basin of the lake and on the upper Tatung-gol. 

 With the exception of the five koshungs on the 

 right bank of the Upper Hoang-ho, under the imme- 

 diate control of the amban (governor) of Si-ning,^ 

 all the administrative divisions are under two Tsiun- 

 wangs, Tsing-hai-wang and Mur-wang, each having 

 twelve koshungs under his supervision ; the former 

 governing the western or larger, the latter the east- 

 ern part of the country. 



Our camels were quite done up and unfit for 

 further use when we left Kan-su. Fortunately camels 



' According to the Mongols the inhabitants of these koshungs are 

 almost exclusively Tangutans. 



