S34 Baron Humboldt on the Mountain-Chains and 



far as Kokand. Between Kokand, Dervazeh and Hissa, conse- 

 quently between the still unknown sources of the Sihoon and 

 Amoo-daria, the Teen-shan rises previous to sinking again in 

 the Khanat of Bokhara, and presents a group of lofty moun- 

 tains, several summits of which, such as the Takt-i-Suleyman, 

 the crest called Terek and others, are covered with snow even 

 m summer. Farther to the east, on the road which runs from 

 the western bank of lake Temoortu to Cashgar, the Teen-shan 

 does not appear to me to attain so great an elevation ; at least 

 no mention is made of snow in the itineraiy from Semlpolatinsk 

 to Cashgar. Tlie road passes to the eastward of lake Balkashi^ 

 and to the westward of lake Yssi-kuJ or Temoortu, and traverses 

 the Narun or Narym, an affluent of the Sihoon. At 1 05 versts to 

 the south of the Narun, it goes over Mount Rovatt, which is 

 pretty high, and about fifteen versts wide ; it has a large caverny 

 a«d is situated between the At-bashy a small river, and the little 

 lake of Chater-kul. This is the culminating point previous tO' 

 arriving at the Chinese post placed to the south of the Aksu, a 

 small river of the steppe, the village of Artush, and Cashgar. This 

 city, built on the banks of the Aratumen, contains 15,000 houses 

 and SOjOOO inhabitants, but is yet smaller than Samarkand. 

 The Cashgar-davan * does not appear to form a continuous wall, 

 but to offer an open passage at several points. M. Gens ex- 

 pressed to me his surprise that none of the numerous itineraries 

 of Bokharians which he has collected, make mention of a lofty 

 chain of mountains between Kokand and Cashgar. The great 

 snowy mountains seem not to reappear till east of the meridian 

 of Aksu, for these same itineraries mention Jeparleh -f, a. glacier 



" The terms davan in Oriental-Turki, dabahn in Mongol, and dalagan 

 in Manchoo, denote not a mountain, but a pass in a mountain ; Cashgar da- 

 van, therefore, signifies only the pass across the mountains to Gashgar 



K1.AFR0TH. 



■f- This is the Moosar-tag, or glacier between Ele and Kucha. The ice 

 with which it is sheeted gives it the appearance of a mass of silver. A road,, 

 called Mussar-dabahn, cut through these glaciers, leads from the S W. to the N., 

 or, to speak more accurately, from Little Bucharia to Ele. The following is a 

 description of this mountain by a modern Chinese geographer : ' To the north 

 is the post station of Gakhtsa-karkai, and to the south that of Tamga-tash, 

 or Terma-Khada ; they ar€ distant from each other 120 k. On proceeding 



