Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/225

 horses and camels. The latter suffered too from the want of salt, as we had not passed any saline marshes since we left the Kiakhta road, and we were therefore well pleased at the sight of the small salt lake of Tabasun-nor, where our animals could indulge in their favourite brine.

The elevation of the country west of the Suma-hada mountains continues to be very considerable, but the supply of water is very deficient, especially near those mountains which rise from the bank of the Yellow River, and are known to geographers under the name of In-shan.

This range begins on the plateau of Mongolia near the town of Kuku-khoto, and forms a lofty precipitous barrier along the northern bend of the Hoang-ho, terminating in the valley of the river 170 miles from its commencement with the rocky belt of Munni-ula. The wild alpine character of these mountains is preserved throughout their extent, and they are distinguished from the other mountains of South-eastern Mongolia by an abundance of wood and water. Two ranges constitute a further extension of the system to the westward, still parallel to the northern elbow of the river: the Sheiten-ula nearest to the In-shan, and beyond this, the Kara-narin-ula, from the river Haliutai to the confines of Northern Ala-shan. Both these groups