27б TRADE ROUTES. 



whole course of our three years' wanderings we only 

 found this animal in the Hurku hills, and our eager- 

 ness to secure its skin for our collection was propor- 

 tionately great. But in this we were unsuccessful, 

 for the simple reason that our make-shift boots ^ 

 were unfit for climbing over the steep rocky ledges, 

 and this caused us frequently to miss our footing, to 

 the great risk of our guns, or still worse, of our necks. 

 Nevertheless we climbed half a day over these hills, 

 at times literally ' on all fours,' and after completely 

 exhausting ourselves we were convinced that shod 

 as we were it was impossible to slay this wary 

 animal. 



South of the Hurku lies the great trade route 

 from Peking, via Kuku-khoto and Bautu, to Hami, 

 Urumchi and Kulja,'"^ branching off near the spring 

 of Bortson, where we encamped for the night, whence 

 one branch leads to the town of Suh-chau. We were 

 told that before the Dungan insurrection the traffic 

 along these roads was considerable, and wells were 

 dug at frequent intervals ; now, however, nobody 

 goes that way. 



The Hurku hills are the northernmost limit of the 

 distribution of saxmil^ of the sand-martin and spar- 

 row {Passer ammodcndri) of Ala-shan ; here too we 

 saw for the last time Perdix Chukor. 



' Chinese boots with felt soles are unfit for the European. We 

 tried wearing them, but after an hour's walk rubbed our feet sore. 



"^ The former province of Hi. 



' However, Mongols say that saxaul ^xc\w% north of the Hurku 

 chain, in the bare sands near the trade route between Kuku-khoto and 

 Uliassutai. 



