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0304 The Pulse of Asia : vol.1
アジアの鼓動 : vol.1
The Pulse of Asia : vol.1 / 304 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000233
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way, and grows gentle and mild and weak of will. He has
no contact with the world outside his own oasis, and there-
fore fears whatever is new or strange. The Chanto's mind is
so habitually idle, — that is, it receives so little stimulus from
his ordinary surroundings, — that new sights and new ideas
do not interest him, and he is strangely free from curiosity,
nor does his easy, quiet life often tempt him to quarrel. In
winter, he sits idle with nothing to occupy his thoughts, and
naturally eating and drinking and the pampering of his body
become the chief things in life. It would be strange indeed,
if, under the given physical conditions, the Chanto were
other than the courteous, submissive, self-indulgent creature
that he is.

To nullify the evil influences of the physical environment
of the Chantos, two influences may prove helpful, namely,
the stimulation of variety of scene, and of steady work. The
shepherds get something of both, and, in their way, seem to
be better men than the peasants. And even in the cities,
where the worst elements gather, there are, as we have seen,
occasional men of real strength of character. In the future,
great changes may perhaps take place, for the Lop basin
has immense undeveloped resources. Chief among these is
the vast amount of water wasted in the zone of piedmont
gravel. Only a fraction of the water which flows out of the
mountains reaches the oases, probably not half in the west-
ern portion of the basin, and not a tenth in the eastern por-
tion. The Yartungaz, Endereh, and Molja rivers, east of
Niya, support practically no population, though they are as
large as the Niya River, which, in spite of enormous prevent-
able losses, supports nearly five thousand people. The Kara