MUSK-DEER 



CHAPTER VIII 



The Fauna of the Chinese Province 



The area of which the animals form the subject of this chapter consists, roughly- 

 speaking, of a triangle, the angles of which are formed by the Pamir plateau in the 

 west, by the island of Formosa in the south, and by that of Saghalin in the north. 

 The features of the landscape of the area differ greatly in its different divisions. 

 The greater part of China proper, for instance, is occupied by forest-tracts 

 characteristic of a dry climate ; tropical forests of considerable extent are on the 

 other hand found in Formosa and the adjacent coast of the continent, while an 

 extensive forest, whose primeval condition is only retained in the sacred groves, 

 exists in southern Japan. In this forest some of the trees and many of the tropical 

 shrubs of the Malay area have their northern limit. In addition to deciduous 

 forests recalling those of eastern Korea, there are large pine-forests in those parts 

 of Japan which have a cold winter. The largest of these forests occur in the 

 northern islands of the group as well as in Saghalin, though in the latter island 

 the forested tracts frequently alternate with meadows, so as to form park-like 

 landscapes recalling those of north-western China and the Amur countries. 



The grassy steppes of northern China and the Amur countries are bordered by 

 the great Gobi desert, extending from the Pamirs to Chingan at an average 

 elevation of from 3000 to 5000 feet. This tract is broken into by mountain ranges, 

 and dotted with lakes, small and large, saline and fresh-water, the beds of which 

 dry up at certain seasons of the year as do those of many of the rivers. Few of the 

 plains are destitute of vegetation, but, except in certain cases, there is no forest. 

 Tulips are the most striking plants, and when they are in blossom the Dzungarian 



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