Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/21

 Ala-shan, and is 3,100 feet above the sea; it is about 33 miles in circumference, and encrusted with a layer of pure salt 2 to 6 feet thick. It is remarkable that this natural production should be so little utilised; only a few dozen Mongols being engaged in the industry of digging the salt out and carrying it on camels to the Chinese towns of Ning-hia-fu and Bautu.

The salt is obtained in the following way: first a thin covering of dust is removed from the surface, the salt is then dug out with iron spades and washed in the water which collects in the excavated holes. It is then poured into bags, and laden on camels, each camel carrying a load of about 3½ cwt. A payment of 50 chokhs, or about 2d., is levied on the spot on each camel load, and the same amount is charged for the labour of getting it. A Mongol officer lives at Djaratai-dabas, to inspect the salt industry and receive the income arising from it, which is paid into the treasury of the prince. The latter also earns large sums by his camels, which are hired for the transport of the salt; nine-tenths of the profits realised are given up to him, leaving only one-tenth to the carrier. The Mongols said