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0258 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / Page 258 (Color Image)

New!Citation Information

doi: 10.20676/00000233
Citation Format: Chicago | APA | Harvard | IEEE

OCR Text

"Only ten cents' worth of gold for the morning's work
of ten of us," was the discouraged remark of the strong-
lunged miner; and his "ten of us" meant only the men
who share the mine, not the women and children who
had helped.

Niya proved to be a pleasant town of about four thousand
inhabitants. On the 17th of October, we found the shady
lanes bordered by rows of thrifty poplars, still almost as
green as in summer. The fields had apparently borne heavy
crops, though all were now bare with the exception of the
rustling corn-fields, whose half-gathered golden crop made
spots of color on the flat roofs of the warm mud houses.
The people were much like those of other places. They
looked well-to-do and comfortable, though they mildly com-
plained that the Chinese amban of Keriya had lately in-
creased their taxes, and that their late Beg had oppressed
them. After the polite and hospitable fashion of the Chantos,
the new Beg invited me to go hawking. Accompanied by
a merry party of friends, and by two retainers carrying
hooded falcons on their gloved wrists, we rode down the
river. Broad reaches of sluggish water invited wild duck
to halt, and an open plain of low, grassy reeds dotted with
feathery tamarisk bushes afforded shelter to numerous
hares. The sport was poor, but the good humor and jokes
of the hunters, and our exciting races after the falcons, put
every one in high spirits. I realized what good fellows the
Chantos can be, and how much they resemble ourselves in
spite of certain weaknesses.

The Niya River is much like the Keriya. It is not strange
that travelers have been deceived as to the possibilities