ELMS AND BUSHES. 273 



a desert as wild and barren as that of Ala-shan, but of a 

 somewhat different character. The sand-drifts, so vast 

 in the latter country, are here of comparatively small 

 extent, and in their stead we find bare clay, shingle, 

 and naked crumbling rocks (chiefly gneiss) scattered 

 in low groups. Vegetation consists of stunted half- 

 withered clumps of saxaul, karmyk, diidarkana, and 

 a few herbaceous plants, the chief amongst which is 

 the sidliir ; the elms ^ are the most striking features 

 in the Urute country, forming in places small clumps ; 

 bushes of wild peach ^ are also occasionally met with, 

 such as are never seen in the desert of Ala-shan. 

 Animal life in these regions is very scant ; birds and 

 mammals are the same as in Ala-shan. You may 

 often ride for hours together without seeing a bird, 

 not even a stone-chat or a kolo-djoro ; nevertheless, 

 wherever there are wells or springs, Mongols are to 

 be found, with a few camels, and large numbers of 

 sheep and goats. 



During our progress through this country, in the 

 latter half of August, the heat was excessive, al- 

 though never so high as in Ala-shan. Winds blew 

 ceaselessly night and day, often increasing to the 

 violence of a gale, and filling the air with clouds of 

 saline dust and sand, the latter choking up many 

 of the wells ; but these were more frequently de- 

 stroyed by the rains, which, although rare, came 



' These trees are from 1 5 to 20 feet high and 2 to 4 feet thick ; 

 they are mostly met with in dry rainwater courses, probably because 

 they find more moisture here. 



■-' There is no wild peach in the Ala-shan mountains, or in those of 

 Kan-su and Northern Tibet. 



VOL. II. T 



