It is interesting to observe how the Chinese merchants can sell Manchester cotton goods, which have travelled at least 18,000 miles by sea and land, cheaper than the Russian merchant can sell his Moscow tariff-protected wares only 3000 miles from the industrial seat of Empire.
b. Miscellaneous Manufactures.—The chief item under this heading is hardware and crockery, and up to now the market has been largely monopolized by cheap Moscow and German goods. These, moreover, seem to be holding their own against similar articles from Western China. The principal articles required by the Mongols under this heading are iron bars for horses' shoes, nails, spades, axes, spring traps, tea cans and China cups.
c. Tea.—As explained above in dealing with currency, tea, in the form of bricks, is an important article of consumption among the Mongols. These bricks are made by compressing tea dust, and are the monopoly of certain Chinese firms in central provinces. The green article, being cheapest, is consumed largely by the Mongols, and costs roughly 50 kopeks (1s. 1d.) per brick in North-West Mongolia.
d. Wool.—This is the principal article of export from Mongolia, and a considerable and increasing demand has developed of late years in European Russia. The best quality is found in the Uliassutai district, where the wool is less hairy than in most other parts. It appears that good summer pasturage constitutes the condition most favourable for the growth of good hairless wool, and this is found at an altitude of from 5000 to 8000 feet on the plateaus. In the main, however, Mongolian wool is hairy in quality, and is fit only for the manufacture of the
