Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 96 (Color Image)

0096	Among the Celestials : vol.1

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7o AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. IV.

which runs from the south into the heart of the

country is of sufficient extent to support twenty

or thirty million people. Here, where corn-

munication from town to town and from the

interior to the sea-coast is easy, progress has

always been rapid. And the fertility of the

soil is such that crops of millet, wheat, barley,

beans, rice, hemp, etc., scarcely to be equalled

elsewhere, are grown. Food is, therefore,

abundant and cheap, and there is ample sur-

plus production for export.

As a result of this abundance, man and beast

are well fed, and with the neighbouring pas-

ture-lands of Mongolia to serve as a breeding

ground, and with a plentiful supply of grain

always at hand in the agricultural districts, the

domestic animals are numerous. The inhabi-

tant of Manchuria need never want for sheep

or cattle for slaughter, oxen or ponies for his

plough, or mules and donkeys for his carts.

Agricultural operations are, therefore, easily

carried on, the produce is with little expense

transported to market, and the means of

proceeding from one district to another are

readily available. In all these respects de-

velopment is greatly favoured.

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