426 SOUTHERN DZUNGARIA 



difficulties beset one and the same old caravanserais give 

 one shelter. 



Not until we reached Southern Dzungaria did we 

 come in contact with the great high-roads and caravan- 

 routes which connect East and West, and which are to- 

 day as they ever have been since the Far East first 

 attracted the attention of the West and the two sought 

 each other's company. North of this zone little inter- 

 course has been carried on. What trade could flourish 

 between China and Siberia, and what could the cold 

 north-land send to China with the exception of a few 

 furs ? 



We can well visualize the varied scenes that the high- 

 road granted in the old days, before modern methods 

 of transport diverted the trade. In those early days 

 the markets of China exchanged their wares for those 

 of Western Asia, traffic poured in and out through these 

 landward gates of the Empire, and endless caravans 

 bore the wealth of Cathay to Western bazaars. A vast 

 internal trade between town and town added to the 

 throng of transport-animals and foot-passengers on the 

 highways. Thousands of donkeys pattered along the 

 road, and strings of groaning ox-wagons moved at even 

 slower pace than the stately lines of great Bactrian 

 camels. The gorgeous cortege of a Chinese official, — 

 with an armed escort, moving on the Emperor's 

 business, — was surpassed by that of some great Mandarin, 

 borne in a high-wheeled mule-cart at gentler pace, 

 relays of transport animals taking him from post to 

 post ; following in his wake was a slower-moving 

 cavalcade composed of his wives and concubines and a 

 host of retainers. Amongst all these travellers and 

 caravans of merchandise, by the road-side in the dust 



