FROM KULJA TO KUMUL 457 



sedentary life and cultivation towards the north, nor 

 had we any knowledge of a nomadic population in 

 those regions. 



We vaguely imagined those central deserts to be 

 untenanted by nomads, there being no indication of a 

 water-supply ; we had not counted, however, upon the 

 possibility of the existence of winter residents, depend- 

 ent upon snow for their drinking-water. In Guchen, 

 noticing many Kirghiz in the bazaars, we inquired who 

 they were, and they told us proudly that they were of 

 the Kirei clan, supplementing this information by adding^ 

 that they were " Kum dan " — from the sands. This led 

 us to make further inquiries, and we eventually made 

 friends with their representative in the town. Each 

 different tribe or race in the cosmopolitan towns of Inner 

 Asia has a head-man to represent it and to look after 

 its interests in all matters ; the nomads of the sur- 

 rounding districts have also a similar figure-head whose 

 duties partake of those of a " consul." The " Shangea," 

 or representative of the Kirei in Guchen, was a man of 

 wealth and importance, who showed us hospitality and 

 furthered our plans for a visit to the " sands." 



On February 19th, in company with a Kirei, whom 

 we had to " mount," for the desert nature of inner Dzun- 

 garia does not allow the nomads to bring their horses 

 with them on their winter migrations, we rode out of 

 Guchen to the north-east, and in five hours reached the 

 edge of the sand-belt. Here was a guard-house called 

 Kuntiza, and here the track divided, one going north 

 across the sand to the Baitik Mountains and on to the 

 Irtish and the Altai, while the other followed along the 

 edge of the sands to the north-east. The former of these 

 was a level road, practicable for carts, with forage, fuel, 



