FROM KULJA TO KUMUL 439 



for they presented a most weird appearance, with twisted, 

 gnarled trunks and branches, and dwarfed growth, few of 

 them being more than 20 ft. high. 



Shi-Kho we found to be a thriving and busy centre 

 of trade and transport, with a " moving " population 

 of about three thousand. Even in January the four 

 big inns were full to overcrowding, for here converges 

 the entire trade between Siberia and Urumchi, and 

 constant traffic passes through. From Shi-Kho a road 

 runs northwards to the frontier town of Chuguchak, 

 which the traveller may reach in ten stages. It traverses 

 a bleak and inhospitable country, without habitation, 

 and with a poor water-supply ; in time, no doubt, it will 

 be superseded by another track following the line of the 

 Manas River, which, besides easing the discomfort of 

 the journey, will open up a country at present awaiting 

 development. 



There being no inducement to halt at Shi-Kho, we 

 continued our journey for another stage eastwards to 

 the village of Yandzhikhai, where we stopped a day, as 

 Miller wished to hunt the surrounding country. The 

 exceptional conditions imposed by the rigid winter 

 on the fauna of these regions were shown by Miller's 

 discovery that, on the low hills to the south of the 

 road, wild-asses and wild-sheep actually ranged over 

 the same ground. These hills were scarcely a thousand 

 feet above the plain, and formed an isolated ridge separ- 

 ated from the main range of the Tian Shan, which started 

 some miles farther to the south. 



Another two days took us to Manas, the centre of 

 an important district. As a town it did not impress 

 us, the bazaars being small, and the walled " city " 

 little else but an empty enclosure. The passer-by 



