Nikolay Przhevalsky

“ In winter the wild camel keeps entirely to the lower and warmer desert, only entering the mountains from time to time.
Unlike the domesticated animal, whose chief characteristics are cowardice, stupidity, and apathy, the wild variety is remarkable for its sagacity and admirably developed senses. Its sight is marvellously keen, hearing exceedingly acute, and sense of smell wonderfully perfect. The hunters told us that a camel could scent a man several versts off, see him, however cautiously he might approach, from a great distance, and hear the slightest rustle of his footsteps. ”

“ Fragments of sculptures are found among the débris, and in some galleries sunk in the rock there are paintings of men and animals on the walls as fresh and bright in colour as if they were new. Precious stones, gems, and trinkets are occasionally found in the rubbish of the crumbled walls, and marvellous tales are told of the lustre and size of some that have been picked up here by wandering shepherds. ”

“ Even wolves are rare in the desert, and would scarcely be dangerous to a full-grown camel. Besides being habitually wary, it will resort to the most inaccessible spots to avoid man, and it is probable that the sandy wastes to the east of Lake Lob have served time out of mind as its settled abode. Of course in earlier ages the limits of its distribution may have extended much farther than at the present time, when all that remains for it is the most remote corner of the great desert of Central Asia. ”

“ Owing to the absence of forests in Yulduz, the deer frequent the belts of low bushes, climbing the rocks as easily as the mountain sheep, and so like these as to be mistaken for them at a distance. In spring, during the months of May and June, they are eagerly pursued by hunters for the sake of their young horns—so called ‘panti’ which fetch high prices in China. Thus, in Kulja, a pair of large, six-pointed antlers is worth fifty to seventy roubles, in first hands; and even small ones fetch fifteen, twenty, or thirty roubles. ”

“ These natives are in general all remarkable for the pallor of their complexions, for their hollow chests and weak frames. The men are of average height, many even tall; the women (whom we rarely saw) are of smaller stature.
If we happened to enter one of their dwellings—the fair sex, married and single, invariably took to flight, disappearing like mice through the crevices of their reed walls.
Our companion, Zaman Beg, having had more opportunities of seeing and studying the ladies on the Tarim, spoke in terms the reverse of flattering of their beauty. ”

“ Once aware of its danger, it instantly takes to flight, and never stops for some dozens, or even hundreds of versts. A camel I fired at certainly ran twenty versts without stopping, as I saw by its traces, and probably farther still, had I been able to follow it, for it turned into a ravine off our line of march. One would suppose that so uncouth an animal would be incapable of climbing mountains; the contrary, however, is actually the case, for we often saw the tracks and droppings of camels in the narrowest gorges, and on slopes steep enough to baffle the hunter. ”

“ Cattle rearing is more general than agriculture. Sheep are the principal domestic animals, and yield an excellent fleece; but they are small, and of the fat-tailed kind; horned cattle of a fine, large breed, a few horses, and asses are also kept. Of camels there are none, the locality disagreeing with them. The reeds we have already mentioned are the only fodder for cattle, but sheep greedily devour besides the stalks of a prickly bush.
With regard to the moral side of the inhabitants of the Tarim, their chief characteristic, as with Asiatics in general, is laziness ”

“ The height of Lake Lob is 2200 feet, and therefore the fall of the Tarim, notwithstanding its rapid stream averaging three feet per second, [13] is only slight.
From Akhtarma our road lay down the Tarim, now approaching its bank, now retreating to some distance from it. There is no valley in our sense of the word; neither the configuration nor quality of the soil changes even on the very bank of the river. The same loamy plain, the same drift-sand as in the desert, continue to within a hundred paces of the water. ”

“ Nobody can go more than three or four days' journey to the east of the lake, owing to the depth of the soft powdery saline soil, on which neither man nor beast can find footing. From the lake a river goes out to the south-east, across an immense desert of this salt and sand. At fifteen days' or twenty days' journey it passes under a mountain, and reappears on the other side, in China. In olden times a young man of Lob went in his boat to explore the river beyond the lake. ”

“ The struggle is over, the desert has gained the mastery over the river, life is swallowed up in death. But before finally disappearing, the Tarim forms by the overflow of its last waters an extensive reedy marsh known from ancient times as Lob-nor. The name Lob-nor as applied to the lake is unknown to the natives by whom the whole lower course of the Tarim receives this appellation, whilst the lake itself goes by the general name of Chon-kul (i. e. great lake) or more often Kara-kurchin, denoting the whole administrative district. ”

“ The autumnal flight is generally very deficient in this part of the Tian Shan, even in small birds.
A range of no great elevation, crossed by a pass 6000 feet high, separates the Kunges from the broad valley of the Tsanma, the river we had already crossed near its mouth. Although not more than eight versts apart, the difference in the height of the respective valleys of the Kunges and Tsanma is nearly 2000 feet. From the pass itself may be seen, as from an opera-box, on one side the comparatively low and deeply indented Kunges valley, on the other the elevated basin of the river Tsanma. ”

“ By the overthrow of Gushluk the Mongol dominion was extended over the whole country of Central Asia.
In the partition of the realm of Jinghiz Khan among his sons, the region of Eastern Turkestan, with Almahk as its capital, fell to the share of Jagatai, and his successors held it until Timur came with fire and sword, and made it part of his extensive empire. Then followed a confused period of dissensions between Mongol princes and Mongol tribes, during which we are led to believe that the civilization of Almalik and of the neighbouring cities of the valley of the Ili entirely disappeared. ”

“ Loud rumblings and explosions are constantly heard in the interior of the mountain, which is very high, and whose top is always covered with snow. It is called Khan Khura Tagh, and forms the boundary between Yulduz of the Kalmuk and Junghar of the Kirghiz and Kassak, who are also called Juttah (or Jété) Moghols.
Khan Khura Tagh is the western boundary of the Yulduz territory, and has a live volcano. This Yulduz Valley is celebrated throughout the region of Central Asia for its beauty, its springs, meadows, and fine breezes. ”

“ We succeeded in exploring these mountains, that is to say, their northern slopes, over an extent of 300 versts east of Chargalyk. Throughout the whole of this distance the Altyn-tagh serves to buttress a lofty plateau overhanging the Lob-nor desert, and most probably forming the northern limit of the Tibetan highlands; at least this is what the inhabitants gave us to understand, one and all assuring us that the south-western prolongations of the Altyn-tagh continued to margin the desert uninterruptedly as far as the towns of Keria and Khotan. ”

“ Wild boar and hares excepted, all other animals are comparatively few, and some very scarce. This fauna, too, has no distinguishing feature, for, excepting the wild camel, most of the animals are also found in the Tian Shan, whilst the remainder are common to the deserts of Central Asia generally.
Neither is the country we are describing rich in birds, although one might have supposed that the woods and warm climate in the Tarim valley would have attracted many to winter here. ”

“ With the exception of the Kiok-ala-daria the Tarim has no important subsidiary channels in its lower course, and is mostly contained in one channel. Along its banks to the right and left of its course are scattered marshes and lakes. These are for the most part artificially formed by the natives for purposes of fishing and pasturage—reeds being the only food for cattle in this wretched country. The river itself assists in the irrigation of its own valley. ”

“ With an increase of population at Chargalik, the hunters of Lob-nor became more numerous, and camels scarcer. Now, the wild camel only frequents the neighbourhood of Lob-nor, and even here in small numbers. Years pass without so much as one being seen; in more favourable seasons again the native hunters kill their five and six during the summer and autumn. The flesh of the wild camel, which is very fat in autumn, is used for food, and the skins for clothing. ”

“ In the days of the Chinese supremacy, the commerce with Yarkand was next to nothing, and was looked upon by the Chinese as contraband. Now that they have regained possession of the country, it is to be hoped that they will profit by the lesson which has been taught them in another province of China, where rebellion was put down, but where they have lately been compelled to admit Western civilization through the door which the Mohammedans of Yunnan opened during the short period of their emancipation. ”

“ The fishing begins in the early spring, and terminates late in the autumn. Small nets are used for this purpose in which the fish entangle themselves. The usual and most profitable method practised by the inhabitants may be described as follows:—a convenient spot having been selected for the purpose, a passage is cut into the Tarim (whose level, as we have already observed, is higher than the flats alongside it) water then pours out upon the plain, and a shallow but wide-spreading lake gradually forms, into which the fish find their way through the channel from the river. ”

“ Our road lay at first up and almost alongside the bank of the Ili, whose valley is here thickly settled by Taranchis. [2] Clean, pretty villages with gardens, shaded by lofty silver poplars, follow each other in quick succession. In the intervals are corn-fields irrigated by numerous watercourses, whilst on the meadows along the river's bank large herds of sheep, oxen, and horses are grazing. [3] The population is everywhere apparently prosperous; the Mohammedan rising never having desolated this part of the valley. The districts which were laid waste lie below Kulja, following the Ili. ”

“ They are called "wild" people, because they delight to live with the wild beasts and their cattle in the thickets and brakes about the marshes. They are small, black men, with long matted hair, and shun the society of other men. Whenever they see any strangers, they run away and hide in the thickets and reeds. Nobody knows whence they came, or where they live, and nobody understands their language. They are very timid, but, though only armed with bow and arrow, and long pike, are brave hunters. They keep cattle, and have no cultivation. ”

“ When caught young, wild camels are easily tamed and taught to carry a pack.
Their voice, very rarely heard, is a deep, lowing noise; in this way the dams call their young; males, even during the rutting season, utter no sound, but find their consorts by scent.
We were unable to learn the duration of a camel's life; some are known to live to a great age. Our hunter-guide once chanced to kill a he-camel, with teeth completely worn down, notwithstanding which the animal was in good condition. ”

“ Close beside the habitation is an enclosure also of reeds for the cattle. Ten or more of such houses compose the village, which is not always stationary, for in winter they live wherever food for cattle and fuel are most abundant, whilst in summer they are dispersed over the lake for the purpose of fishing. But their chief motive in removing their villages to new sites is to avoid sickness; small-pox is especially dreaded, for it almost invariably terminates fatally. ”

“ Shaw, in the very interesting account of his adventurous journey to the court of the Atalik Ghazee, tells us how he was treated on the road, with the utmost kindness and hospitality, but always as a kind of state prisoner. During the whole of his stay in Yarkand and Kashgar he was not once allowed to go outside the quarters assigned to him, except on a visit to the authorities. Force was never employed, but, on the contrary, he was continually deceived by an apparent anxiety to meet his wishes for an enlargement of his confinement ”

“ Here, too, agriculture once flourished, but since the extermination of the Chinese inhabitants by the Taranchis and Dungans, the villages are mostly destroyed, and even such towns as Old Kulja, Bayandai, Chimpanzi, and others are in ruins, the fields deserted and choked with weeds. ”

“ It would be for the interest of the Chinese quite as much as for the benefit of British trade that a British consul should be established at Yarkand or Kashgar, to regulate trade and to maintain friendly relations. In former days the chief business done by our traders with Eastern Turkestan was in opium, which they smuggled across the Karakorum and sold for enormous profit in Yarkand and Khoten. This pernicious trade ceased entirely when the Chinese disappeared, and its place was taken by a much more healthy commerce in tea and English piece-goods. ”

“ The Lob-nortsi, who hunt the wild camel in summer and autumn, never go expressly in search of it, but kill them whenever they get the chance.
This sport is generally very difficult, and only three or four hunters in the whole district of Lob-nor engage in it. The ordinary mode of killing camels is by lying in wait for them at the watering-places, not by following on their fresh tracks. ”