C. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF CHINA PROPER

Province 13: Kan-suh [Gansu]

The province of Kan-suh, which derives its name from the first syllables of the names of the two cities Kan-chow Foo and Suh-chow, is bounded on the N.E. by the Ordo Mongol tribes and the Desert of Gobi, on the E. by Shen-se, on the S. by Sze-chuen, on the S.W. by Kokonor and the Desert of Gobi, and on the N.W. by Kobdo and Ili. The boundary on the N. remains undefined, but the province may be said to occupy the territory lying between lat 32° 30´ and 40°, and long. 108° to 98° 20´, and to contain an area of about 86,688 square miles. The population is estimated at 15,193,125. Kan-suh is for the most part a howling wilderness of sand and snow, but to the east of the Yellow River the country is cultivated and to some extent productive. The principal river is the Yellow River, the course of which through the province has already been described, and in the mountains to the south of Lan-chow Foo rises the Wei River, which traverses Shen-se, and flows into the Yellow River at Tung-kwan. The chief products of Kan-suh are cloth, horse hides, a kind of curd like butter "which melts in the mouth," and is known by the Mongols under the name of Wuta, musk, plums, onions, dates, sweet melons, and medicines.






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