Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/105

Rh about a foot long and the same in thickness; its exterior covering is a brown, rough rind, which is cut off when dry. The flowering time is the end of June or beginning of July; the seeds ripen towards the end of August.

The natives asserted that the root is fittest for medicinal purposes in spring and autumn, and that when the plant is flowering it becomes porous; but we did not find this to be the case in the specimens we obtained in midsummer. The Tangutans and Chinese dig it up in September and October; but the disturbed state of the country has almost put a stop to this industry, which at one time was so actively pursued that nothing but the inaccessibility of some of the forests could have preserved it from extinction. In the environs of Chertinton it is rare, but it is said to abound near the sources of the Tatung and Etsina further to the west, whence the largest quantities were formerly obtained, and transported to Si-ning, the chief central depôt for the rhubarb trade. During our stay in these parts the price averaged a lan (tael) of silver per ten hings (i.e. about 6½d. per hing).

It is transported by land in winter, and by boats in summer down the Hoang-ho to Peking, Tien-tsin, and other ports, where the Europeans buy it, paying six or ten times more than its value at Si-ning. A large quantity used formerly to be sent to Kiakhta, but of late years the supply has ceased. The trade