From Kulja, Across the Tian Shan to Lobnor (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER n. Fauna of Tarim?Avi-fauna?New species?Inhabitants of Tarim?Rude dwellings?Details of population?Dress of the people?Cloth manufacture?Habits, pursuits, and diet?Position of their women?Peculiarities and failings? Route continued?Observations for altitude?Natives are suspicious?Airilgan ferry?Climate?Village of Chargalyk ?Cherchen, Nai, andKeria?Ruins of Lob?Starovertsi? Start for Altyn-tagh?Description of these mountains? Mountainous system?Fauna of Altyn-tagh?Hardships ?Return to Lob. Let us now turn to the animal kingdom. It may be seen from the preceding brief sketch that the basin of the Lower Tarim and Lake Lob contain l1ttle for the support of mammalia. Of these we give a complete list in the appendix, and merely remark here that this country is in general as deficient in the variety, as it is in the number of its mammals. 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 thatthe woods and warm climate in the Tarim valley would have attracted many to winter here. Their absence, however, may be accounted for by the want of food, for, with the exception of oleaster, and even this in comparatively small quantities, there is not a single bush or herb with edible seeds. Fish, mollusca, and other small animals common to lakes and marshes, are beyond the reach of birds in winter. This is why neither waterfowl nor wading birds ' winter on the Tarim; birds of prey are also scarce, and only one songster appears in any number in winter...