Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 200 (Color Image)

0200	Among the Celestials : vol.1

164 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. VII.

with a kang, and a Chinaman lying on it smok-

ing opium. It was perfectly cool below there,

and there was no musty smell, for the soil is

extremely dry. The room was well ventilated

by means of a hole leading up through the roof.

Turfan and its neighbourhood lies at an

extremely low altitude. My barometer here

read 29.48. My thermometer was broken, so

that I cannot record the temperature, but it

may be taken at between 9o° and I oo° say

95°. Turfan must be between two and three

hundred feet below the level of the sea,* which,

considering that it is in the heart of the con-

tinent several thousand miles from any sea is a

sufficiently remarkable fact.

After leaving Turfan and as we neared

Karashar we entered a country thickly covered

with trees, like a park, with long coarse grass

in tufts, and many small streams, one of which

was four feet deep and nearly covered the mules

and flooded the bottom of the cart while cross-

ing. The rainfall here must be considerably

more than farther east. The soil is sandy and

* This depression was also noticed by Colonel Bell before my visit, and its existence has since been confirmed by Russian travellers.

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