FROM KULJA TO KUMUL 435 



without danger. Even dead camels lying about outside 

 our quarters did not matter under these conditions ; 

 but we scarcely dared to imagine what would have been 

 the effect in summer. 



We sought, in vain, for interest or romance in the 

 surroundings of the sordid villages and mud-built cara- 

 vanserais, which staged our route along Southern 

 Dzungaria. All were stamped with the unrelieved 

 monotony of Central Asia. 



On reaching the low plain of Dzungaria the road-side 

 scenery was varied by a zone of vegetation caused by 

 the presence of much water, which, at this altitude, 

 approached closely to the surface of the ground, and 

 either rendered it moist or actually appeared as streams. 

 This fact accounted for a string of villages lying along 

 the route. 



Takianzi, the first of these settlements, was typical 

 of them all. A group of ancient elm-trees surrounding 

 a Chant o, or a Dungan mosque, is generally the most 

 prominent feature on approaching one of these villages, 

 which, on entrance, has the appearance of a long, 

 straggling street composed of mud-built houses, small 

 bazaars, and a few inns. In summer, life and colour are 

 added to the scene, nomads from the surrounding country 

 are haggling with the shopkeepers and crowding the serais ; 

 but in winter even the benumbed yet inquisitive inhabi- 

 tants have not the energy to turn out and form a crowd, 

 as is their habit on the arrival of strange travellers such 

 as ourselves. 



The population was composed largely of Chanto 

 emigrants from the overcrowded oases of Chinese Turke- 

 stan, such as Turfan, Aksu, and Kashgar, in all of 

 which there exists a surplus of inhabitants. They had. 



