and married the daughter of a minor mandarin who had fallen on bad times, a Chinese girl, whom he converted to the Moslem faith. Askarbajeff bought her for too lan. He expects to sell Russian goods for about to,000 lan annually. They are brought in small quantities by Sarts from Turfan and Lop Nor. About 200 pieces of cotton cloth and rolled iron (about 2o,000 djin annually to the 3o smithies of the town) are the principal articles of commerce. Mata from Khotan has a good sale and Chinese and Japanese goods are brought from the east. I saw no Indian goods, nor are they said to be dealt in. Wool is bought from the Mongols in the mountains to the S by Ilkhamsjanoff and a couple of Chinese, the agents of European firms in Eastern China. The total quantity that passes through Tun-huang is probably about 400,000 djin, equivalent to 200,000 sheep. The price is to lan per too djin. About 5-60o djin of camel's wool at 12 lan per too djin and 20,000 sheepskins at 3 tch. each are supplied by the same Mongols. Some Sarts and Chinese are engaged in gold-washing in the tributaries of the Tang-ho, 3 days S of Tun-huang. The annual output is said to be to Jiang (of gold?).
Tun-huang is connected by two roads of 14 and 24 days' journey with Tcharkhalik, a road of a little over 3o days (with only one small pass) with Sining and a road over Suchow and Chinta with Kuku Khoto. To Suchow the caravans go over the mountains in the S, where there is said to be grass (for horses?). A road of 6 days' journey (2 days without water) is said to lead to Turfan and another, still shorter (also partly without water) to the village of Bugas (immediately S of Hami). I was unable, however, to obtain details about these two roads. There are two roads to Hami, one via Hung-liu-yuan-tzu (4 days) and the other via Kufi or Ku-shui (6 days). Finally, there is a good road to Ansi. I felt inclined to send my baggage to Lanchow and make the journey myself with a camel caravan over the Nanshan mountains and Sining, but various reasons, principally shortage of
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