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

We have reached the end of our discussion, in which we have examined meth-
odically and objectively the fragmentary remains which the cookery and the teeth
of the ancient Anau-li have allowed to descend to our times. In considering each
animal we have drawn our conclusions with all possible moderation in order that
they may stand the test of future discoveries. We have kept a firm rein on our
imagination, which might be easily excited by contact with the primitive remains
of so remotely ancient a culture in a region which one is accustomed to look upon
as the cradle of the human race. It was a saying of my honored teacher, Albert
Gaudry, that the eye and the spirit of a poet were essential to the paleontologist.
Perhaps, then, I may be permitted to review the history of the domesticated
animals of ancient Anau and clothe them in the dress of a comparative representa-
tion of the breeding of animals at the present day in Central Asia.

The modern stock-raising of Transcaspia* is carried on principally in a nomadic
manner, partly by natives who live as nomads throughout the whole year, and
partly by those who also cultivate the soil, moving their herds on to the steppe
only after the harvest.

In consequence of the hot climate the grass of the steppes begins to dry up
in the second half of April, only the kolutschka, which is liked by the camels, and
similar deep-rooted plants remaining. The dried steppe is exposed to fires,
which often devastate immense areas. Besides this, the pasturing is often limited
by the prevailing lack of water. Rivers are almost wholly wanting; even wells
are rare, and then, for the most part, very deep and often yielding only bad water.
In this respect the sand deserts are better off than the loess-steppes, since in the
depressions between the dunes it is not unusual to find good water at a slight
depth below the surface, especially in those places where the desert borders on
the lower part of the oases. These places form the most desirable pasturage in
midsummer and winter.

However, the grazing areas of Turkestan, taken in the aggregate, are so
large that even at the present time stock-raising forms a very important part of
the industry of the land. The official statistics estimate the number of animals
on the first of January, 1903:

Horses.................. 142,285 Sheep.................. 2,948,118
Camels.................. 217,049 Goats.................. 318,360
Cattle.................. 37,996 Asses.................. 12,753

In all probability these figures are far below the truth. They give, however,
a good picture of the relative abundance of the different animals.

By far the most important occupation is that of sheep-breeding, which is
best adapted to the utilization of the scanty pasturage.