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Innermost Asia : vol.1 |
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to the north-east, clear proof that 'aspiration' was drawing the prevailing winds down from the
cold heights of the 'Snowy Mountains'. Then a mile farther on came a steep drop into a reed-
filled bay where a subterranean flow of water was gathering in marshy springs, and finally we
arrived at the straggling little village, almost hidden as we came close to it by the banks of the deep-
cut trough in which it is situated. It was a great relief to meet at once with a hearty Turkī welcome
and to be assured that it was really Bai, a village administered from Hāmi. To have reached it
after nearly four weeks of continuous desert travel without the loss of a single animal was no small
satisfaction. Our poor Chinese 'guide' had almost to the last persisted in believing that the place
we were marching down to was but an illusion created by deceptive spirits.
'Tāghlik' Though Bai is probably the easternmost settled place in Dzungaria everything seemed closely
communi- to reflect the conditions of life with which the Tārīm basin had made me familiar. To that still
ties. distant ground I felt carried back during the pleasant day of halt that we spent here, with my tent
sheltered in a small orchard where the fruit trees were still in full leaf. The water irrigating the
fields and gardens is all kara-su, derived from springs rising a short distance higher up in the wide
drainage bed. Its volume as measured at the village mill was only two cubic feet per second. No
flood water from the mountains was said ever to reach the village lands, and from their position
in the very bed this statement appeared to be correct. Of the half-dozen places with cultivation to
be found north of the Karlik-tāgh and belonging to Hāmi, Atürük, our next stage westwards, which
comprised about a hundred households, was described as the largest, Bai itself counting about
fifty. But the numerous camps of more or less nomadic Turkī families grazing their flocks and
herds in the valleys and on the lower slopes of the Karlik-tāgh farther west probably represent
a very considerable addition to the population of this small but distinctly interesting submontane
tract. In spite of the semi-Chinese dress adopted by the men, these 'Tāghliks' or hill people
appeared to me to have retained a great deal more of genuine Turkī speech and ways than their
fellow subjects under the Wang of Hāmi, in the oases south of the range.
Routes About the route from the Kan-su side I did not succeed in eliciting any clear information.
from Bai. Apparently the rare caravans proceeding by this route to Barkul do not touch Bai, but keeping
closer to the foot of the mountains move direct towards Atürük, where grazing, food supplies, &c.,
are abundant. But how we failed to come upon their track on our descent towards Bai remained
puzzling. That people from Bai graze their camels and donkeys during the summer in a portion
of the range through which we had made our way was acknowledged. Umür-tāgh appeared to
be the general name given to it, and the existence of springs at two points known as Chagan-
burgase-bulak and Kutghoi-bulak, evidently Mongol designations, was mentioned. Of routes
passing north-eastwards into the Mongolian 'Gobi' the people of Bai could, or would, give no
information. But of their existence there could be little doubt, and the ruined fort found close
to the south-western end of the cultivated ground and near the springs already referred to was
obviously meant to guard the approach from that side. From the report and the photographs
brought by Afrāz-gul, whom I sent for a preliminary inspection, it appeared manifestly Chinese
and of no great age.⁴ Probably it was meant to shelter one of those posts by which the Chinese,
during their struggles with the Dzungars under the Emperors K'ang-hsi and Ch'ien-lung, protected
their newly won foothold at Hāmi, essential for the conquest of Hsin-chiang.
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