Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/226

 of mountains are physically distinct from the In-shan proper, of which they are not, strictly speaking, a continuation, other and much smaller mountains supplying the connecting links of the chain; this interruption is particularly marked between the Sheiten-ula and Kara-narin-ula. Moreover, the former is a much lower range than the In-shan, besides being less thickly wooded and not so plentifully watered. Again, the mountains which lie beyond the Haliutai river, although of considerable elevation and completely alpine in character, are also unwooded and form a marginal range, having on one side the valley of the Hoang-ho, on the other a lofty table-land.

We entered the In-shan by that part called by the Mongols Sirun-bulik, and I cannot describe the pleasure we felt, after marching for so long a time over bleak, cheerless plains, to see wooded mountains, and to rest under the shade of green trees. We started that day for the chase, and climbing to the summit of a high peak we caught our first glimpse of the Yellow River winding through the great plains of Ordos.