GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



361 



cept in the valleys, they are very sterile, al- 

 though infested with locusts. The scanty fauna 

 is different from that of the Tarair Valley and 

 Loh Nor, and includes three animals peculiar 

 to Thibet, the Pseudois Nahoor, Poephagos 

 grunniens, and Antilope Hodgsoni. The cli- 

 mate on the northern side is very cold ; there 

 is little snow, but much rain and wind in sum- 

 mer, according to the inhabitants. A hunting 

 excursion after wild camels in the Kum-Tagh 

 Desert, east of Lob Nor, was attended with 

 little success. This camel, Prjevalsky considers 

 to be a wild stock modified by mixture with 

 the blood of tame camels. The Tarim dis- 

 charges itself, not directly into Lob Nor, but 

 into a smaller lake called Kara-Buran, over 20 

 miles long, and six to eight miles broad. This 

 is covered over a great part of its surface with 

 reeds, the river flowing through the center in 

 a separate bed. Both lakes taken together are 

 called by the natives Lob Nor. The larger 

 lake is named Chok-Kul, or Kara-Kochun. 

 This body of water also is so covered with 

 reeds as to form really a morass. Its form is 

 elliptical, running southwest and northeast ; 

 it is over 60 miles long, and only about 13 broad 

 in its widest part. Prjevalsky explored only 

 the southwestern end, and was unable to pro- 

 ceed far into the lake in a boat along the river- 

 bed on account of the shallowness of the water 

 and frequency of the reeds. The water is clear 

 and fresh, although there are salt marshes sur- 

 rounding the lake, beyond which is a border 

 of ground covered with tamarisks, which seems 

 like a former shore ; and, according to the 

 native accounts, the water was deeper thirty 

 years ago. The Tarim is 125 feet broad and 

 14 deep where it enters the lake, but its bed 

 grows shallower until it is lost in the reedy 

 swamp at the northeast end ; the reeds grow 

 18 feet high, and are an inch in thickness. 

 Baron Richthofen doubts whether the Kara- 

 Kochun is the true ancient Lob Nor, and sug- 

 gests that either there exists another outlet to 

 the northeast connected with the Tarim by an 

 arm, or that there has been such a reservoir 

 since dried up, the Tarim having deserted its 

 ancient bed, owing to the raising of its banks 

 by the accumulation of sediment and drifting 

 material. He raises these doubts on the au- 

 thority of Chinese maps, which make the river 

 run due east and empty into the Lob Nor, rep- 

 resented as a large salt lake crossed by the 

 41st parallel. The same maps represent another 

 lake called Khasomo, which sounds like the 

 etymological original of Kochun, and which 

 is placed in reference to the mountains in the 

 eame position as the Kara-Kochun, and is 

 flanked on the west by a smaller lake, but has 

 no connection with the Tarim. His former 

 theory seems corroborated by the facts that 

 the Kara-Kochun is sweet, while the country 

 traversed by the Tarim and its branches has 

 a very salty soil, and the volume of water dis- 

 charged into the lake seems to be about one half 

 less than that of the Tarim and its affluents. 



The land of Midian was discussed in a pa- 

 per read by Captain Burton before the geo- 

 graphical section of the British Association. 

 He claims that the Biblical land was conter- 

 minous with the present Arz Madyan of the 

 Arabs, beginning at Fort Akhaba, lat. 29 28' 

 N., and extending to the fort of El Munnylah 

 and the Wqdy Sim, lat. 27 40', having a 

 length of 218, a coast-line of about 300, and a 

 depth of 24 to 35 miles. Two expeditions 

 have been sent out by the Khedive to explore 

 this country, one in 1874 under Beke, and one 

 in 1877 in charge of Captain Burton. The 

 latter expedition, landing December 19, 1877, 

 explored first the northern, then the middle, 

 and then the southern district. An examina- 

 tion of the abandoned ancient gold, silver, and 

 other mines furnished indications of remark- 

 able mineral wealth through the whole length 

 of the region. This land, once so fruitful, 

 has become a barren waste; but so great is 

 the promise of metallic wealth that it may 

 be yet reclaimed and colonized. On the ex- 

 pedition 2,500 miles of country were traversed, 

 and maps made, in which are indicated twen- 

 ty-two ruined cities. Specimens of ores of 

 gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead were gath- 

 ered and shipped away for examination. 

 Three sulphur deposits, three turquoise mines, 

 and immense bodies of saltpeter, gypsum, and 

 rock-salt, were discovered. Captain Burton 

 proposes immediately to take active mea- 

 sures to work the mines of such promise which 

 he has rediscovered. Near Makneh were 

 great quartz veins containing up to 15 and 20 

 per cent, of silver, with abundance of water 

 on the spot. The inland boundary of Midian 

 is a chain of granite mountains running paral- 

 lel with the coast, with steep peaks of curious 

 forms, some of which, for instance the Sharr, 

 are 6,000 to 7,000 feet high. Beyond this 

 chain the country ascends until it ends in a 

 great plateau formed of red sandstone. The 

 neighborhood of Ziba is full of metallic quartz ; 

 in the south, from Beda (ancient J&idais) to 

 Wej, the whole country consists of quartz with 

 numerous indications of gold and of ancient 

 mining works. In the mountains he found 

 magnificent juniper-trees and a vegetation like 

 that of Europe. 



In Africa the season has not been fruitful of 

 discoveries, on account of the great mortality 

 among the numerous exploring parties in that 

 pestilential climate, and the many hindrances 

 to which they have been subjected by the jeal- 

 ous and savage inhabitants. 



Dr. Dutrieux and M. Cambier, of the expe- 

 dition in central Africa commissioned by the 

 King of Belgium, had penetrated from the 

 Zanzibar coast as far as Mikondo on the Lon- 

 kendo River, longitude 35 15' 40" E., latitude 

 6 13' 40" S., by the middle of July, and ex- 

 pected to reach Ugogo in a few days more. 

 They passed through a wild region covered 

 with woods, jungles, and tall herbs, keeping 

 near the sixth parallel, their route being con- 



