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Leaving on the 24th April, we moved slowly over the plain in a south-westerly direction towards the Yellow River. Villages were fairly frequent, but, except in the immediate neighbourhood of these, the ground was uncultivated, a good deal being marsh land, and a good deal being white with saline efflorescence. Geese and wild duck abound, while the fields swarm with a large specie of mouse. The inhabitants of the villages (all Chinese) are exceedingly poor; their chief food is millet and potatoes, though a sheep is surprisingly cheap, only costing 2 dollars (48.). They drink tea or water. A young pony can be bought for twenty dollars (24). The huts are lit with bean oil, the usual lighting, where the Standard Oil Company have not so far penetrated. In the early afternoon of the 26th April we reached Tütschong and 2 miles later Hokou, both small, industrious, prosperous settlements on the Yellow River, with a small boat trade. Just before reaching Tütschong we passed the ruins of the ancient walled city of Chengadou. The size of the walls show that it must once have been of great strength. The north wall is still excellent, but the others are in a state of decay. All the space within the walls is under cultivation. The town stands some 150 feet above the river and about 300 yards away from it.
At Tütschong we turned south, down the valley of the river between a low mud ridge and the backwaters of the stream, over cultivated land, and 10 miles later reached the ferry. Here a few inhabitants have built some cabins, but there is no village. It took us two hours to cross the stream, this time including the unloading and reloading of the camels. The current is fairly swift at this point, and we drifted 150 yards down stream during the passage. The ferry is said to be used by a great number of Mongols. The marshes on either side abound in wild fowl of every kind. The huge barges, which are used as ferry boats, are capable of holding a great number of animals and passengers at the same time. It is said that sixteen camels can be ferried over at once, Our animals gave the usual amount of trouble to make them embark, and kicked, spat, and refused to enter the boat till their forelegs were hauled by ropes, while leverage with spades and poles was brought to bear on the hind legs. Even when inside the boat they made a great deal of trouble, and kept jumping up, and threatened to upset The banks of the river at this time of year are some 8 feet above the water. The soil is very friable, and keeps crumbling away the whole time. This makes embarking and landing difficult. There were no other boats on the river. For the whole party to cross eight camels, six men, and a quantity of baggage, we paid a dollar, which was however, a fancy price.
us.
Having crossed the stream we were then in the country of the Ordos, and keeping north again for some 3 miles, turned west over rolling grassy country to the Mongol Settlement of Anental, to which one of the ferrymen guided us. The settlement is situated on the fringe of the sand hillocks, the beginning of the Ordos desert.
Route.
The route now lay in a south-westerly direction through the Mongol tribes of Djungar, Wang, Djassak, Wushin, and Ottok, to Borobalgasson. Turning south here for a day to Hsiaochaaopan and thence westwards through the Great Wall into Kansu Province and north-west to recross the Yellow River near Ninghsiasu, a return to Kweihuacheng was eventually made through the northern Princedoms of Hangkin and Talat.
General Description.
The Ordos is bounded on three sides, the east, north, and west, by the Yellow River. On the south the Great Wall running over mountain ranges separates it from Shansi and Shensi, and the same (running over the plain) from the Province of Kansu. The Great Wall in this part of China is, however, more a historical term than a reality, for it has long crumbled away for most of its length to a large mound.
As regards its physical aspect, the Ordos may be divided into two sections--the Highlands and the Lowlands, and these sections into further sub-sections as follows :---
The Highlands into---
(a.) The short range of the Arbusula in the extreme west running north and south along the Yellow River. This range is bleak, rugged, and devoid of vegetation. It is probably seen at its best from the river, but in no place deserves a higher adjective of praise than "fine."
(b.) Low hills which run north-east to south-west, parallel with the Great Wall, and as far as the plain of Borobalgasson. These hills cover the ground to a distance of
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perhaps 50 miles from the Great Wall. They are broken by many gullies and broad torrent beds, some stony, others sandy, but all entirely dry except perhaps for a short time after the rains, and also by numerous narrow valleys down which a small stream still trickles. These hills form a distinct water parting, for though all the streams find their way into the Yellow River, some do so by flowing northwards, while others flow south to merge their waters in Shansi rivers which join the Yellow River many degrees to the south. These hills are in some districts of red sandstone.
The Lowlands may be sub-divided into-
(a.) The vast undulations of land which comprise the greater portion of the country. The soil is entirely sandy, lightly covered with grass, or with a low scrub perhaps for many miles, never more than a foot high. In the scattered lower depressions are the remains often only in the form of marsh or dry mud thickly covered with saline efflorescence of the waters which once covered the whole of the Lowlands, making the country one vast lake. From these depressions great quantities of salt are extracted. After rains they may take the form of lakes again for a short season.
(2) The fertile portions of the valley of the Hoangho which can be reached by irrigation canals from the river. In this portion tall trees are numerous, and wheat, millet, maize, kaoliang, and even a little poppy may be cultivated.
(c.) The sandy deserts devoid of all vegetation and with little animal life save perhaps for badgers and a few birds. The best known of these regions are the Kuzuptchi sands, which are a succession of hillocks (40 or 50, rarely 100, feet high) lying side by side, and composed of yellow sand. The upper stratum of this sand when disturbed by the wind blowing on either side of the hills, forms loose drifts which have the appearance of snowdrifts. These sands are from 10 to 50 miles wide, and run from almost the meridian of Bautu to where the Yellow River bends into Alashan. Another bad stretch of sands, such as those described above, lie in South Ottok between Borobalgasson and Hsiao chiao Pan, and are some 8 miles wide. But throughout the whole of the Ordos, whether the country be highland or lowland, these bare sandy hillocks such as compose the Kuzuptchi desert are to be scen daily. They are simply sand drifts, but they seem to be annually encroaching on the country. They are sometimes devoid of all vegetation, at other times a little coarse scrub has clung to the sand, and is fighting for its life. The absolute height of the lowlands has been found to be between 3,000 and 3,500 feet.
The Tribes and their Government.
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The country is divided among seven tribes, who are entirely separate and distinct from the other Mongol tribes. Each is governed by a Prince; the hereditary system prevails, and on the death of a Prince his eldest son succeeds if 19 years of age. has to be confirmed in the succession by the Chinese Government. There have been cases of minors being allowed to succeed, and the present King of Ottok is an example of this. He was only 9 years old when his father died. His succession was allowed, thanks to the intervention at Peking of the Roman Catholic Bishop of West Mongolia,
The names of the tribes and their positions are as follows:--
On the north going from the east to west, Talat and Hangkin, south of Hangkin lies Ottok, which extends to the Great Wall; going castwards from Ottok comes Wushin Djassak, Wang, and finally Djungar, the last touching the Yellow River, two days south-west of Kweihuacheng. The Isikung Prince of the Orots has a small strip of land north of Talat and in the valley of the Hoangho, but he has nothing to do with the Ordos tribes, from whom he is quite distinct. The country is very thinly populated, and there are no towns; the only villages even are those created by the Chinese immigrants who have penetrated into the more fertile portions of the country, i.e., the extreme south and the valley of the Hoangho in the territory of Talat. Consequently, the only inns to be met with are those found in Chinese villages.
The inhabitants are a purely pastoral people; their wealth consists in the number of their herds and flocks and droves. The Princes are shepherd kings with the same interests as their subjects; they are said to tend their own flocks at times. The nearest approach to Mongol villages are the huge lamaseries which are scattered over the country and into which two-thirds of the male population drift. The traveller may journey for several days and never see a habitation, that is if he keeps to the main tracks, for the Mongols avoid these and live in the hills away from the highways. Were they to live on
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