THROUGH ASIA 
1 248 
and opium, while they themselves never touch either the 
one or the other. But then their coffers are full of silver 
pieces, and they suck the Chinese as dry as oranges. 
The district of Ning-sha also yields in great abundance 
rice, wheat, millet, beans, pease, vegetables, apricots, 
apples, pears, grapes, melons, and peaches. The gardens 
are watered by long irrigation-canals, drawn from the 
left bank of the river. Ning-sha is also an important 
centre in the lively traffic in wool that is carried on 
between the interior and the coast. In summer, however, 
the wool is transported down the Hwang-ho in boats. 
