Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/255

 from that of Manchuria. The Great Wall was no protection against these floods of barbarians, who in their turn were incapable of founding an empire on a sound basis of internal development. After a certain period of dominion, the barbarians, who had come into contact with a civilisation so entirely foreign to them, lost their wагliке strength, the only foundation of their power, were driven on to the plateau, and even temporarily subjugated by China. In this way the latter, by an artful policy rather than by strength, often warded off the misfortunes with which the nomads from time to time threatened her.

Ordos, in its physical aspect, is a level steppe, partly bordered by low hills. The soil is altogether sandy, or a mixture of clay and sand, ill adapted for agriculture. The valley of the Hoang-ho is the only exception, where the Chinese population lead a settled life. The absolute height of this country is between three thousand and three thousand five hundred feet, so that Ordos forms an intermediate step in the descent to China from the Gobi, separated from the latter by the mountain ranges lying on the north and east of the Hoang-ho or Yellow River.