Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/265

 signifies collar, and is very appropriate on account of the distinct fringe which they form along the valley, from the meridian of Bautu for 200 miles up its course, where they cross to the left bank and cover the whole of Ala-shan. The sands of Kuzupchi are a succession of hillocks (40, 50, rarely 100 feet high) lying side by side and composed of yellow sand. The upper stratum of this sand, when disturbed by the wind blowing on either side of the hills, forms loose drifts which have the appearance of snow-drifts.

The effect of these bare yellow hillocks is most dreary and depressing when you are among them, and can see nothing but the sky and the sand; not a plant, not an animal, is visible, with the single exception of the yellowish grey lizards (Phrynocephalus sp.) which trail their bodies over the loose soil and mark it with the patterns of their tracks. A dull heaviness oppresses the senses in this inanimate sea of sand. No sounds are heard, not even the chirping of the grasshopper; the silence of the tomb surrounds you. No wonder that the local Mongols relate some marvellous stories about these frightful deserts. They tell you that this was the scene of the principal