534 BARKUL 



finally, reached Ta-shih-tu and connected up our route- 

 survey with the outgoing track. 



In retracing our steps westwards we again traversed 

 the whole length of Southern Dzungaria, but, being 

 spring, the country presented a very different appearance 

 to what it did in midwinter. Grass and flowers now 

 carpeted the steppe in place of unbroken snow-fields, 

 and the country, which in January had seemed lifeless, 

 now appeared as the home of thriving colonists, pos- 

 sessing busy towns with much traffic. 



Our journey now took the form of a hurried review 

 of the remaining portion of Dzungaria rather than a 

 detailed survey of an}^ one part. We visited various 

 localities for the sole purpose of investigating the fauna 

 of regions little known from a zoological point of view, 

 the results of these studies being described by Miller ; 

 while our itinerary included the traversing of those 

 parts of Dzungaria which are rarely visited. A con- 

 siderable portion of the information we obtained on the 

 return journey, after concluding the exploration of the 

 Karlik Tagh and Barkul regions, has been already 

 embodied in Chapter XIII, which dealt with Dzungaria 

 as a whole. The details of our experiences alone remain 

 to be described. 



After Miller had successfully hunted that strange 

 animal — the Saiga antelope ; and a small, but most in- 

 structive collection of mammals had been formed on the 

 plains in the south-eastern corner of Dzungaria, where 

 the lowlands merge into higher Gobi, we marched again 

 into Guchen. May 5th saw us outfitting for a lateral 

 journey into the Bogdo-ola in order to visit its sacred 

 lake. 



A description of Dzungaria, without reference to 



