562
Topography of the Province of Kánsuh.
Ост.
life, and ruled by their own officers. Síning fú is mentioned by Marco Polo under the name of Singuy, as a large city inhabited, like the sur- rounding towns, by a mixed population of Nestorians, idolaters and Mohammedans.
VII. The department of Liángchau extends north of Síning be- tween the Kilien Mts. and the Great Wall, having Kánchau fú on the northwest, and Lánchau on the southeast. The region is watered by several short streams running northward through the valleys, and losing themselves in the Desert beyond the Wall. The chief town is of considerable size, and the number of villages shows that these inter- vals are fertile and the climate salubrious. Liángchau fú seems to be the place called Erginul by Polo, who speaks of many towns attached to it.
VIII. The department of Kánsuh lies between the preceding on the east, and Suh chaw on the west, like them both shut up in this Thermopyla of China, having the Desert on the north and the moun- tains on the south. Kinchau has increased in population and wealth under the Manchús, and the manufactures of woolen stuffs and felts for the consumption of the Eleuths, Hoshoits, and other Mongolian tribes, have attracted a large trade. Wool, rhubarh, drugs, and the produce of herds, are the chief articles of traffic. Kánchau has al- ways been one of the most important places in this region, as the fer- tility of the valleys has induced multitudes to settle near it. Marco Polo and his relatives lived here a year; he calls it Canpicion, and says it is “chief and capital of the whole province of Tangut;” there were three large and beautiful Christian churches in his day. He also mentions a city named Ezina, twelve days northward of it, the last town met in crossing the Desert on the road to Karakorum.
IX. The department of Chinsí lies in the northwest of Kánsuh, be- yond the Desert, Hami, the most southeasterly town in it, is 320 miles from Kiáyü kwán. The towns in this extensive region are comparative- ly few, and we refer the reader to Vol. IX. page 115, for a description of their position and inhabitants. Chinsí fú is better known under the
name of Barkoul; south of it is the fortified place of Palikwan
坤
called in Chinese works Hwuining ching. by which names it is better known abroad than by the local ones.
X. The inferior department of King has been detached from Ping-
liáng fú; it is a small section lying on the R. King near where it flows into Shensí. The country, though hilly and cold, is well culti- vated, and in its productions resembles the departments on its west and north.