THE LAND OF UNREST 377 



and in the east, where it merges into the Gobi Desert, 

 rises to 2,500 ft. Of a total area of 147,000 square 

 miles, about two-thirds consists of plain, the remaining 

 portion being composed of mountain-ranges, situated 

 like a wall around the central basin, and forming in 

 themselves a natural frontier against Mongolia, Siberia, 

 Chinese and Russian Turkestan. 



The plains of Dzungaria are of a complex character. 

 For the most part they are composed of hard, dry steppe 

 covered with a scanty growth of saxaul and tamarisk ; 

 but this is varied by large areas of saline desert and sand- 

 dunes. The rivers descending into the plain from the 

 border-ranges, — with the exception of the Manas River, 

 — do not run far before sinking below the surface, thereby 

 forbidding the employment of irrigation methods and 

 causing the interior to remain arid and unproductive. In 

 consequence, a certain portion of this region can never 

 be of economic value, while the remainder, which is 

 either reached by water or can be brought within its 

 reach, presents itself as a suitable country for future 

 expansion, although it is not yet utilized to any great 

 extent. Nomad life, however, is not entirely absent from 

 these regions, for even the sand-dunes supply a little 

 pasture, and this is used by the shepherds in winter. 

 In summer the inner deserts are destitute of human 

 life, and even the explorer will find them most tedious 

 to traverse, owing to their soft, salt-encrusted surface, 

 the lack of water, and the great heat. No one but a 

 "Mongol, a misanthrope, or a madman" would venture 

 into Central Dzungaria in midsummer. 



The border-ranges are the Hfe of Dzungaria ; they 

 supply the pasture for the nomads, and the water for 

 the agriculturists ; they, — together with the warm zone 



