Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 58 (Color Image)

0058	Among the Celestials : vol.1

34 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. II.

lower and lower and the valleys wider as we

proceeded, till we soon found ourselves in open

undulating country, very richly cultivated and

thickly inhabited. The crops, now in full ear,

were extraordinarily heavy ; the millet especi-

ally, both the large and the small, being unusu-

ally heavy in the ear. The villages, too, were

all of considerable size and numerous. But

separate farmhouses or small hamlets were

seldom seen probably on account of the

brigandage, which was very rife all over

North Manchuria. We heard frequent tales

of carts being attacked on the road, and of

villages and even towns being pillaged. We

had, however, no personal experience of these

brigands, and this part of our journey, though

interesting as lying through a populous and

thriving district, was lacking in incident and

excitement.

Just beyond Petuna we again struck the

Sungari, here spread out in many channels to a

width of some ten miles. We crossed it by

a ferry, and on the opposite side we soon

entered the open rolling steppes of Mongolia.

The rich cultivation ceased, and with it the

villages, so that we now only passed an occa-

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