Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/80

CHAPTER II.

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 little for the support of mammalia. Of these we give a complete list in the appendix, and merely remark here that this country is ia 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 that