Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/315

 princes, and governs Ala-shan on the principles of mediæval feudalism. By origin a Mongol, this prince has become quite a Chinese, the more so on account of his family ties with the Imperial house, having received in marriage one of the princesses. A few years ago his wife died, and he now lives with concubines.

The prince himself is a man of forty, with a good-looking face, but rather pale, owing to his being addicted to smoking opium. In character he is corrupt and despotic to the last degree. The gratification of a whim, a sudden outburst of passion, or the desire for revenge, override the dictates of calm judgment and discretion; in fact his own sweet will replaces every law and is implicitly obeyed without the slightest opposition from anybody. But the same system prevails throughout the whole of Mongolia and China. Nothing but the ignorance of the masses could allow such a state of society to continue, which under other circumstances would inevitably lead to the dismemberment of the empire.

The prince of Ala-shan passes all his time in the seclusion of his house, smoking opium, and never appears in the streets; formerly he used occasionally to visit Peking, but the insurrection of the Dungans put an end to these journeys.

The Amban has three full-grown sons, the eldest of whom will be his heir; the second has entered the monastic order; and the youngest, by name Siya, has no fixed profession.