474 KAMI, OR KUMUL 



and firewood, food for the horses, and two sheep for 

 ourselves. Obviously Marco Polo had not exaggerated 

 the inborn hospitality of the people of Kumul ; and, as 

 will be noted in the following pages, the oasis, though 

 situated on the main road between North China and 

 Western Asia, still lives up to its former reputation, 

 and remains unspoilt by over-taxation or misuse of its 

 good- will. 



In these delightful surroundings we rested a week, 

 making the acquaintance of the feudal chief of this 

 curious little kingdom on the edge of the Gobi, who 

 showed us much hospitality and courtesy ; and here we 

 prepared a plan for the exploration of the Karlik Tagh 

 Mountains, which comprise in themselves the greater 

 portion of the Khan's territory. 



Marco Polo called Kumul " a city," and gave the im- 

 pression of the existence of many other towns and villages 

 in the neighbourhood ; but, at the present day, Kumul 

 is the only town that remains, and the capital itself 

 can hardly claim to rank as a city. Kumul is not large, 

 and its surrounding oasis covers a relatively small area ; 

 it is so small, indeed, that in other parts of Chinese 

 Turkestan Kumul would pass unnoticed. The geo- 

 graphical position of this oasis is alone responsible for its 

 boasted importance, for Kumul owes its prosperity 

 entirety to its location as the last town in Chinese Turke- 

 stan for desert-bound caravans, and as the first resting- 

 place for travellers and for traffic coming from China. 

 Beyond Kumul all is desert ; whether the caravans come 

 or whether the caravans go, this town is to them of 

 immense importance ; it represents either a goal safely 

 reached after a hard and trying journey of eighteen days 

 from An-hsi-chow on the southern side of the intervening 



