GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



289 



ration conducted by the United States Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey in the Arctic seas which 

 wash the coasts of Alaska, has resulted in the 

 discovery of evidences that the Kuro-Siwo, or 

 Pacific Gulf Stream, does not pass through 

 Behring Strait, or even enter Behring Sea. 

 This conclusion, reached by W. H. Dall, may 

 have been too hastily; formed, since it is op- 

 posed by the counter-eVidence of climatic con- 

 ditions observed in the polar seas by former 

 explorers, which indicate that fi warm current 

 does pass through the strait, and contradicts the 

 theoretical conclusions of hydrographers based 

 upon the laws of physics, which seem to show 

 in advance that the recurvature of the current 

 occurs mainly south of the Aleutes Isles, but 

 partly in Behring Sea, and that a portion of 

 the waters must force their way into the Arc- 

 tic basin through Behring Strait. The expe- 

 dition reached Plover Bay on the 15th of Au- 

 gust, in the schooner Yukon. 



On the 20th of August they touched Cape 

 Lisborne, where daisies, forget-me-nots, monk's- 

 hood, and other flowers covered the shore. 

 Proceeding nearly to Point Barrow, they ob- 

 served on the land everywhere a profuse vege- 

 tation. Under the soil of the beach, about 

 two feet below the surface, is a stratum of 

 solid ice of unknown thickness, which extends 

 all along the shore of the Arctic Sea. They ob- 

 served in Kotzebue Sound, at Elephant Point, 

 cliffs which seemed to be composed of ice with 

 a layer of earth on top, a formation which was 

 observed by Kotzebue and other explorers. 

 The formation does not move, and has nothing 

 of the character of a glacier. It rises to the 

 height of several hundred feet above the sea 

 in places, and must be very ancient, as it con- 

 tains bones of the mammoth, the fossil horse, 

 and the fossil buffalo. The temperature of 

 the sea varied from 48 to 36 Fahr., and was 

 considerably higher on the American than on 

 the Asiatic side of Behring Strait. The tem- 

 perature at the surface and at the bottom was 

 uniform, proving that there exists no lower 

 drift carrying cold water out of the Arctic 

 through Behring Strait. The northerly cur- 

 rent through the strait depends chiefly on the 

 tide. Its temperature is higher than the water 

 south of St. Lawrence Islands, which is due to 

 the warming of the shallow waters of Norton 

 Sound and the Yukon and vicinity. 



ASIA. Two expeditions started out in 1879, 

 with the object of penetrating Thibet from the 

 north, and both were compelled to desist from 

 their original purpose after a vigorous and 

 courageous attempt. The expedition of Count 

 Szechenyi skirted the eastern border of the Thi- 

 betan plateau, traveling fifteen months through 

 the inhospitable deserts of Mongolia and the 

 fruitful mountain-vales of theThibetan frontier, 

 discovering in the bounding range of the pla- 

 teau summits 25,000 feet in height, and emerg- 

 ing at last in Burrnah at the end of February, 

 1880. The other expedition was undertaken 

 by the accomplished and tireless Russian ex- 

 VOL. xx. 19 A 



plorer, Prejevalsky, who, since he first sighted 

 the mountain-wall of Thibet fronting the des- 

 ert of Gobi near Lob Nor, has made Lhassa his 

 goal. Prejevalsky left Zaisan in April, 1879, 

 and ascending the Urungu and Bulgan Rivers, 

 arrived at Hami at the end of May. The party 

 were treated with much respect by the Chinese 

 authorities, who gave them a guard of an offi- 

 cer and seven soldiers. The march across the 

 Mushun section of the Gobi Desert was terrible. 

 The temperature rose every day to 38 Centi- 

 grade, the sand was heated to 68, and the 

 air was without a trace of moisture.. It took 

 two weeks to make two hundred and thirty 

 miles. The only oases were patches of thinly 

 growing grass fifty miles or more apart. At 

 length they reached the oasis of Suchow, a 

 beautiful spot, next to Kulja the most fruitful 

 district in Central Asia. The Altyn Tag of 

 Lob Nor joins here with the Nan Shan range of 

 Koko Nor. There are no forests in these moun- 

 tains, and the flora and fauna are very meager. 

 Here commenced difficulties about guides, 

 which it required all of Prejevalsky's experi- 

 ence and resources to successfully overcome. 

 After looking a whole month for guides, there 

 came along some Mongol hunters from Syrtyn 

 Nor, which lies in the south west, who guided him 

 to Koorlyk, on the way to Koko Nor, from 

 where with much difficulty he reached Dozoon 

 Zassak at the foot of the Burkhan-Buda range, 

 1,370 miles from Zaisan, and on the highway 

 from China to Thibet. The whole country 

 traversed was a desert with occasional oases, 

 almost destitute of animal life and flowering 

 plants. Only once, in the Thian Shan Moun- 

 tains, were forests met with. He obtained a 

 guide who agreed to conduct him on the road 

 to Lhassa; but he led him astray to the up- 

 per waters of the Blue River. He dismissed 

 the false guide, and found his way to the road 

 alone, crossing the Blue River and a high pla- 

 teau, along which runs the Tai'la, a snowy 

 range 16,800 feet high, which was crossed in 

 the middle of October. They were attacked 

 by nomad robbers, and repulsed them with 

 their firearms. On the southern declivity of 

 the Ta'ila they were met by Thibetan soldiery 

 who forbade them to advance. A messenger 

 was dispatched to Lhassa, who brought back 

 a written communication stating that the en- 

 trance to Thibet was prohibited to Russian?. 

 The expedition was not one hundred and sev- 

 enty-five miles from Lhassa. The return over 

 lofty mountains, 14,000 to 16,000 feet high, in 

 the depth of winter, was exceedingly trying. 

 They proceeded to Sining in the province of 

 Kansu, to the east of Koko Nor. Prejevalsky 

 next sought permission to explore the sources 

 of the Yellow River, and obtained it from the 

 Chinese authorities with much trouble. He 

 struck the Hoangho at Gomi, fifty miles south 

 of his camp, at Tonkir. The river here makes 

 a sharp bend from northeast to east. The 

 valley of Gomi, inhabited by Tangut agricul- 

 turists, is the last cultivated district on the 



