National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Surgical operations.—(concluded.)
Bullet, excision ... 1
Calculus vesicæ, lithotomy ... 3
Teeth, extraction ... 34
Ulcer sinus, incision ... 8
——
71

Congenital deformity.
Harelip ... ... 5
Hypospadia of urethra and fis-
sure of scrotum ... ... 1
—— 6

The above table shows the numbers of sick of each disease who applied for medical aid at the Embassy Dispensary from the day of entering the settled country at Sánjú, and during our stay at Yárkand, Yangí Hissár, and Káshghar, up to our arrival at Kokyár, and departure thence for India. Whilst it testifies to the eagerness with which European medical aid is sought by the people of Káshghar, it may also be taken as a fair exponent of the diseases from which they suffer.

Natural productions.—These may be very briefly noticed here under the heads of Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral.

Animal.—Káshgharia, in its wide expanse of desert plain, and its long ranges of elevated mountain plateaux, is the native home of the primæval parent stocks of some of man's most useful domestic animals on the Asiatic Continent. Here are found on the soft saline deserts, where no other foot can tread, the double-humped wild camel of Tartary, the yáwatága of the natives. It is described as a small animal but little larger than a horse, and with neat slim built limbs: particulars in which it differs little from its domestic congener here. I was surprised at the diminutive size, and clean formed limbs of many of the camels we saw in the Kirghiz camps (so different from the tall ungainly brutes one is familiar with in India), and noticed that their cry is as different as their form from that of the Indian variety of the species. The wild animal, according to the concurrent testimony of independent witnesses and authorities, is hunted in the vicinity of Lob and Turfán for the sake of its wool.

The wild horse or cúlán breeds in the hollows of the sandy ridges bordering the desert, and in the valleys of the great mountain ranges bounding it; and in the latter situations not unfrequently shares the pasture with the Kirghiz herds of its domesticated kindred species.

The wild ox or cútás (bos grunniens) is only found at the highest elevations under the snow line, and is a huge animal with long shaggy hair. The domestic animal in the possession of the Kirghiz of Múztágh and Sárigh Kúl is a much smaller brute, and nearly as vicious and intractable as his untamed brother. The hybrid between the wild male and the domestic cow, however, is a highly valued, most useful, and productive creature with all the virtues of the domestic breed improved by the stamina of the wild blood. The wild cútás is occasionally hunted, but with great caution owing to its ferocity and courage when brought to bay.

The Ovis Ammon or ráos is said only to be found on the Tibet border about the Tághdumbásh and Múztágh, and the Ovis Poli or ghúlja on all the Pámir steppes and the plateaux of Alátágh. Sárigh Kúl seems to be the limit between them, the one not going further north, and the other not coming further south. But the Ibex or takka has no such limitation, and is found on Alátágh to the north as on the Bálti mountains to the south.

The stag or búghú male, and marál female, haunts the forest borders along the river courses on the mid plain, and is hunted for its antlers, which are an article of commerce with China. The deer or antelope, called kigik, herds in the lower valleys and on the sand hills bordering the desert; in the former localities it often gets mixed up with the flocks of the Kirghiz shepherds. There is another antelope, called jirán, which is only found on the higher plateaux of the Karákoram and Aláy, and is usually seen in couples or singly. It is probably the Lyre horned antelope of Tibet.

The hare, called táosheán by Káshgharis and cúyán by Andijánis, is common in the brushwood of the lower valleys, and in the pasture wastes bordering the settlements on the plain.

The other wild animals are the tiger=yolbárs, the panther=molún, the lynx=aulésum, the wolf=bort, the fox=túlki, and a similar animal called Sarigh Cúyurugh or "yellow-tail." These are with the wild pig=tongúz all found on the plain country, and, excepting the first, in winter all develop a thick coat of fur; for the sake of which, excepting the last, they are