Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 208 (Color Image)

0208	Among the Celestials : vol.1

170 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. VII.

They talked of those as good times, and spoke

of the conduct of the Chinese as very zabardast

(oppressive), saying the Turks were like sheep

to submit to it.

Kuchê town and district has, probably, sixty

thousand inhabitants. There are remains of

the walls of the old Turk city south-east of

the Chinese, but the greater number of houses

and all the shops are outside of this. The

shops are small, like those in India, and

nothing of native manufacture is sold, ex-

cepting sheep-skins, which are a speciality of

this place.

After leaving Kuchê the country was still

more populated, though the greater part of each

march was over bare desert or through barren

hills. We would also pass through country

watered by numerous streams running down

from the mountains, the road lined with trees,

and snowy mountains in the background.

Wheat, oats, and maize were the chief crops.

Reaping was just beginning. A noticeable

thing in this part was the absence of local carts.

They were not used at all for farm purposes

or for carrying country produce into town.

Donkeys only were employed for this, and one

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