C H A P T E R X V I I .
T A R A A CH I K U L D J A , A N D TH E V A L L E Y E A S TW A R D S .
Taranchi, Chinese, and Sart bazaars.— Character of trade, prices, and
coins.'— Native restaurants.fcKuldja imports and exports.^-dndus-
• trial buildings.-—¡Visit to a Kahnuk tent.— Exploration of Kalmuk
camping-grounds.^- Colonel Prejevalsky’ s journey to Lob Nor.-—
Severtsoff’ s description of mountain sheep.— Alpheraky’s journey,
and collection of Lepidoptera.— English butterflies in Kuldja.g|g|
Russian and English explorers of the Hi valley.
ON Monday morning, September 4th, we started
early with the Consul’s servant and an interpreter
to the Taranchi, Chinese, and Sart bazaars. The first
was noticeable for its abundance of vegetables and fruit,
large melons at 5 farthings each, and the best apples—
good-looking but tasteless pippins— at the same price,
whilst flat peaches sold for 4\d. a dozen. These prices
for local produce were not exceptional, for e g g s . cost
from 5d. to 8d. a hundred, and fowls from 1 \d. to 2 \d.
each. Before the advent of the Russians, chickens
cost only a halfpenny each. Manufactured goods from
Europe, however, were dear, and even Russian
“ family” tea cost from 2s. to 6s. per lb.* I secured
* The following are fair specimens of Kuldja prices at. ordinary times:—
Wheat and rice, 2S. 6d., barley, peas, and millet, i j . , chaff, 4d., and
clover, 3d. per cwt. Mutton and beef from \d. to 2d., butter 8d., and
tallow candles 4d. per lb. Russian chintz sells at 7d., and ticking
and calico at n @3 per yard; fans from is. to io i. each ; boots from
some Taranchi rings and representative jewellery, and
we then went to the Chinese bazaar, where among the
curious things exposed for sale were ready-made coffins
“ painted and all complete ” for £,4• Throughout this
emporium there is ceaseless movement, bustle, and
noise, for the vendors of wares scream out to the
purchasers, and amongst the inevitables are crowds
of children, some half naked, and others wholly so,
chasing one another about and increasing the general
hubbub of the restless scene. Among the crowds of
men there is a fair proportion of Chinese women, in
national costume, who, owing to their compressed feet,
sway from side to side as if on stilts.
Trade in a Chinese bazaar is of three sorts : first, a
regular business carried on in shops where the more
expensive articles are sold, such as chintz, tea, sugar,
iron, etc. ; next, a casual trade done at a stall or table
in cheaper things, such as common soap, mirrors,
wooden combs, inferior tobacco, needles, handfuls of
Russian sweetmeats: all being packed each night.
Among these goods we observed snuff for nose and
mouth— that is, for sniffing and chewing. It was done
up in small paper packets at a halfpenny each. Then,
lastly, there is the hawking trade, carried on from the
familiar basket, or it may be from the hand, selling
eggs, birds, and fruit. I could see very few Chinese
curios that were worth buying. Up to the time of
the Russian occupation, idols could be bought, and
costly objects of silk and porcelain ; but their purchase
21". to 20s. per pair. A cow costs from 3°*f * to $os., a horse from
£2 to £6, a sheep 6s., and an ox from 50J. to ^4. A lo g of wood 14
feet long and 14 inches in diameter costs 4J. A plank 6 feet long and
14 inches broad sells for 2\d., but the same, 7 feet long, costs I.r. Kiln-
burnt bricks may be had at 4j . per thousand, but sun-dried bricks for
to«?, per thousand less.