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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

salsola, and a Caryophyllaceous Arenaria, both of which are called *burtsi* by the natives of
Thibet, to whom, in common with other travellers in this region, they are the only sources of
fuel; or else, at some springhead, there is an oasis of green grasses and sedges with crowfoots and
gentian. On the slopes and hollows where the soil is slaty, rhubarb grows in plenty, and where
granite more predominates are found two or three varieties of large leafed Umbellifer, Saxifrages,
and the Saussurea, whilst thistles and the prophet flower or Arnebia are met as common roadside
plants in the intermediate elevations at almost every bed of gravel or sand.

On the deserts, vegetation of every kind is extremely scanty. Wide patches of tall reeds,
species of Arundo and Andropogon, are found where the surface is water-logged by marsh or
pool; and where there are desiccated hollows, deep with loose pulverulent salines, the Hololachne,
Salsola, Halicornia, and other saltworts, with a degenerate sort of dwarf tamarisk, luxuriate in
proportion. For the rest the surface is a sheer waste of bare arid sand, till its continuity
is cut by some river bed, when vegetation again appears in belts of thick forest along each bank.
Here the chief constituents are tall reeds, called *comush* (Andropogon) and *chigh* (Arundo), the
poplar, called *toghrac* (Populus balsamifera), and the tamarisk, called *yúlghún*.

On the plains, or waste tracts between the cultivated settlements, is a very scanty and
widely dispersed scrub of camels thorn, wild liquorice (on both of which are seen the tangled
skeins of the dodder), Calligonum, Lycium, and Peganum, with here and there patches of
Hololachne, and spreads of tribulus terrestris, with trefoils and melilots; the convolvulus,
goosefoot, chamomile, artemisia, dandelion, thistle, and other common herbs of every
English roadside.

In the cultivated settlements vegetation reaches its greatest development, and, by compari-
son with the wastes around, flourishes in rich abundance. The wild herbs of the fields and
meadows are those of England. The corncockle and poppy, the tare and trefoils, with the
plantain and polygeny, peep out amidst the growing crops with familiar habitude; whilst the
fumitory, marsh mallow, amaranth, and darnel spread a carpet on the foot-paths, and conduct
to the meadows of rich clover and grass, radiant with buttercup and daisy, potentil and
tormentil, anemone and geranium; and fragrant with mint and thyme, and sage and centaury.

All the settlements are well stocked with trees for fuel, timber, and fruit. The common
roadside trees are the poplar and the willow, and there are two kinds of each, the *toghráe* or
"populus balsamifera" and the *tarik* or "populus alba," the *bed* or "weeping willow," and the
*sugat* or "common willow." The *toghráe* yields a gum and a fungoid growth called *toghrághu* which
is used in medicine and as a ferment in baking; and the *tarik* furnishes the timber used in
house-building. The *bed* is an ornamental tree, not very common, and with its relative, the *sugat*,
which is always polled for the purpose, is the principal source of fuel during winter. The
other common trees are the *uzma* or mulberry, the *sadda* or elm, the *jighda* or celeagnus, and the
*chilán* or jujube. I saw the *sadda* only in the Yarkand division, but the others are common
everywhere, and their fruits are largely consumed; those of the two last never fail to appear
on every *dastárkwán*; and I must record never seem to grow less, so long at least as there is
anything more palatable and satisfying at hand. The walnut grows at Yarkand and in the
southern divisions, but I did not see it at Káshghar, whither the fruit is carried to market
from Yarkand.

For the rest, the vegetation of the settlements may be included under the head of agri-
cultural products, and will be noticed hereafter when describing the agricultural industry of
the country.

*Mineral.*—The mineral products of Káshghar are varied, and from all accounts abundant,
though lamentably neglected and undeveloped. The gold-diggings and jade-quarries of
Khutan have long been famous in history, the iron furnaces of Kizili are still in operation, and
the coal of Aksú and Turfán continues to burn on the domestic hearth in those places. That
found in the former locality is described as of excellent quality and very black; whilst that of
Turfán is said to be of a reddish-brown color and of very inferior burning power, owing to its
gritty and earthy impurities. The Aksú coal is said to come from the vicinity of Karálágh,
and that of Turfán from the hills about Sirkip near Ghocbang. The Turki name of the
mineral is *tásh kúmúr* or "stone charcoal."

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