THE DESERT OF GOBI AND THE HIMALAYAS. 115 



so that there is little room left for the shopkeeper. ... If you 

 could get a bird's-eye view of Chinese Turkistan, you would see a 

 great, bare desert, surrounded on three sides by barren mountains, 

 and at their bases you would see some vivid green spots, showing 

 out sharp and distinct, like blots of green paint dropped on to a 

 sepia picture." The oases are extraordinarily fertile ; every scrap 

 of land that can be cultivated is used up, and every drop of water 

 is drained off and used for irrigation. The inhabitants are indus- 

 trious, but not so good cultivators as the Chinese. They seem 

 peaceful and contented, dress simply and well, and live in houses 

 which, though built of mud, are kept remarkably clean inside. 

 They are, however, much lacking in spirit, and stand in great awe 

 of the Chinese, who produce upon them, as well as upon all the 

 people of these regions, an impression of their overwhelming 

 strength and importance. They are perfect masters of the art of 

 impressing Orientals ; their officials are scarcely known as human 

 beings, but " are presences inhabiting a great walled-in inclosure, 

 entrance to which is barred by massive gates, and they never ap- 

 pear in public except in state and accompanied by an escort. 

 China, too, is regarded by the Turkis as an almost fabulous coun- 

 try." They never go there, and " only hear of it from the Chinese, 

 who give the most exaggerated descriptions of it, telling them that 

 the emperor has an untold number of soldiers at his command, and 

 has a hill of gold and a hill of silver, from which he obtains inex- 

 haustible wealth." Turf an, being seated at a very low elevation 

 and surrounded by the desert, suffers from an intense heat, and 

 the people, to avoid it, dig underground rooms, and live in them 

 during the day. 



The Kirghiz, whose country came next in order, were found 

 more well-to-do than the Mongols or Kalmucs, dressing better, 

 living in better tents, and keeping them clean ; fine, strong men, 

 not so industrious as the Turkis, but a great deal more so than 

 the Mongols. " We put up every night in their tents, and they 

 were generally very civil, though naturally rather curious to 

 know who I was and see all my things. The Afghan had a hard 

 time answering all the questions, so, when he found it monotonous, 

 he used to spread a rug and solemnly say his prayers. He was a 

 Hadji, and, to keep up his religion properly, had to pray five times 

 a day. When he had been traveling all day, and had not been 

 able to say his prayers, he used to make up for it in the evening 

 by repeating them once every half -hour or so." On the plain 

 called the Syrt were large fields of wheat grown by the Kirghiz, 

 who had built houses to store their grain in, but continued to live 

 themselves in their tents. " They said they preferred not living 

 in houses, as they were always afraid of their tumbling down 

 upon them." The author himself, when crossing the Himalayas 



