Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879).djvu/89

70 their staple food. The nets they use are small and coarsely made. We shall describe their mode of fishing later, suffice it to say here that their lives are mostly passed on the water, and that they are expert in the management of their canoes, both men and women excelling in the art. The canoes are made of hollowed poplar-trees, and form an indispensable adjunct to every household. Their fish diet is varied by Asclepias root, roasted on the fire and eaten instead of bread — the latter being a delicacy reserved only for the very few rich among them. Agriculture is very backward on the Lower Tarim, and was only introduced here, as we heard, about ten years ago. Before sowing, the soil has to be irrigated by artificial dykes. Wheat and barley in small quantities are sown, but the harvest is never particularly good, owing to the saline nature of the soil. Cattle rearing is more general than agriculture. Sheep are the principal domestic animals, and yield an excellent fleece; but they are small, and of the fat-tailed kind; horned cattle of a fine, large breed, a few horses, and asses are also kept. Of camels there are none, the locality disagreeing with them. The reeds we have already mentioned are the only fodder for cattle, but sheep greedily devour besides the stalks of a prickly bush.

With regard to the moral side of the inhabitants of the Tarim, their chief characteristic, as with