Lviii.)
I may notice that the structure of the name Ergui-ul or Ergiu-ul, has a
look of analogy to that of Tang-keu-ul, named in the next note.
["Erguiul is Erichew of the Mongol text of the Yuen ch'ao pi shi,
Si-liang in the Chinese history, the modern Liang chow fu. Klaproth, on
the authority of Rashid-eddin, has already identified this name with that
of Si-liang." (Palladius, p. 18.) M. Bonin left Ning-h'ia at the end of
July, 1899, and he crossed the desert to Liangchau in fifteen days from
east to west; he is the first traveller who took this route: Prjevalsky
went westward, passing by the residence of the Prince of Alashan, and
Obrutchev followed the route south of Bonin's. - H. C.]
NOTE 2. - No doubt Marsden is right in identifying this with SINING-CHAU,
now Sining-fu, the Chinese city nearest to Tibet and the Kokonor frontier.
Grueber and Dorville, who passed it on their way to Lhasa, in 1661, call
it urbs ingens. Sining was visited also by Huc and Gabet, who are
unsatisfactory, as usually on geographical matters. They also call it "an
immense town," but thinly peopled, its commerce having been in part
transferred to Tang-keu-ul, a small town closer to the frontier.
