342 IN TIBET AND CHINESE TURKESTAN.
gold remaining at the bottom of the cone-shaped wooden vessel, but, though they took the particles, they remained indifferent to their own shortcomings and refused . to rewash the tailings. The method which was good enough.
for their forefathers was good enough for them. - . .
Coal of very inferior quality is found near Kosarab, but the demand for it is so small that coal-mining can scarcely be said to exist. The copper and iron found in the same region are unworked, the requisite supply being imported from Russia. Practically the only fuel used in the country is wood, supplemented in the mountainous regions by dung and boortza. Trees are consequently disappearing, fof the planting of young trees does not by any means keep pace with the destruction of the old. The fuel supply of the towns has to be brought from ever-increasing distances, and at growing cost. Sometimes the trunks of trees are left standing after being denuded of branches, bare and almost leafless poles, but even of these not many are of any considerable size except poplars, which are generally spared from mutilation.
Trade and traffic are carried on in Sin-Chiang as they have been from time immemorial. Many towns and villages have regular markets or bazaars, during which their dilapidated appearance is brightened by the display of gaudy wares, and the usually deserted streets are thronged. The traders who frequent these bazaars carry their wares from place to place, often travelling long distances seated on the backs of ponies, with baggage suspended on either side. Their wares consist mostly of Russian cloth and chintzes, for on the export of these articles the Russian Government pays such bounties as enable Russian manufacturers to defy competition in Sin-Chiang. Goods from other countries, however, are by no means rare. At Yangi Hissar I was surprised to
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