274 CARNEGIE INSTITUTION 



of Ak-si, in the uorthern part of Khokand, beyond the Sirdaria 

 and examined the ruined sites of Samarkand, and of Paikend in 

 Bokhara and a trenched tumulus at Annau near Ashkabad. 



Throughout the journey, both by rail and in the side excursions,, 

 we had occasion to note the existence and position of a great number 

 of former sites of occupation, both towns and tumuli. 



It had been my wish to examine Balkh, the site of ancient Bactra,. 

 and other ruins of northern Afghanistan, but this was found to be 

 impossible on account of the hostile attitude of the Afghans toward 

 even Russians. 



Outline Sketch of the Region. 



A glance at a map of the Eurasian continent shows that the 

 three seas, the Aral, Caspian, and Black, occupy parts of one great 

 basin, bounded on the south and east by great mountains, and on the 

 north by the Aral- Arctic divide. 



If the Bosphorus were closed and there should exist a continued 

 excess of rainfall over evaporation, these seas would merge and the 

 basin would fill till it overflowed into the Northern ocean. The 

 area of this Asian Mediterranean would be determined by the height 

 of the northern divide, which is as j^et unknown. In any event, it 

 would be sufficient to submerge a large part of southern Russia and 

 much of Russian Turkestan. 



If, on the other hand, there should be a continued increase of 

 excess of evaporation, the seas would dry up ; the whole basin 

 would be transformed into a vast desert, on the borders of which 

 the retreating river mouths would be lost in the sands. Turkestan, 

 once largely covered by water, is now in a state approaching this 

 condition of aridity. The greater basin is broken up into smaller, 

 disconnected ones, of which only one, the Black sea, has an outlet. 

 The Aral stands 159 feet above the ocean, the Black sea practically 

 at ocean level, the Caspian 84 feet below ocean level. 



The great Volga and several small streams reach the Caspian ; 

 east of the Caspian only two rivers, the Sir and Amu (Jaxartes and 

 Oxus) , reach the Aral ; and they gather water only at their sources 

 in snow clad mountains ; all other streams are consumed by direct 

 evaporation and irrigation and have short courses, ending in desert 

 sands. 



According to Schwartz, about three quarters of all this vast region 

 is desert and one quarter is capable of supporting the herds of the 



