308 



GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



Tekes. The Karagai-tasnin-dabau, which di- 

 vides the Kok-su from the Chaidik-gol (the 

 stream that flows through the greater Yuldus 

 valley into the Bagrach-kul), is a gently sloping 

 ridge, with swamp vegetation. The greater and 

 lesser Yuldus valleys were once occupied by an 

 Alpine lake, whose waters have been drained 

 through a narrow ravine with perpendicular 

 sides the stream flowing at a level almost 5,000 

 feet below that of the surrounding country. The 

 inhabitants are Tongut Mongols, who came from 

 the Volga two hundred years ago, and live in 

 complete isolation. Below the ravine the valley 

 opens, the stream branching much and forming 

 wooded islands. In its lower part it is every- 

 where fruitful, but abounds with ruins, the re- 

 sult of the Dungan rebellion. Crossing the 

 Algo, the expedition went down to the depres- 

 sion of Lukchun, discovered by the brothers 

 Grijmailo. They found it to be even lower than 

 has been supposed, the surface of the salt lake 

 Bodshaite being more than 980 feet below the 

 sea. Several small lakes were found near the 

 source of the Algo. Toward Lob Nor the whole 

 country is traversed by mountains, which inclose 

 level depressions. In a letter of May 14 the 

 leader wrote : " By three excursions from Sa-chu 

 the expedition has explored for 300 miles the 

 northern borders of the Nian-Shan system, and 

 for 175 miles its southern slope, west of the 

 Sachu meridian, where we have crossed the 

 range and visited the lakes of northwest Zaid- 

 am Khuntei. Khuitun, Sukhain, and Bulunghir 

 the positions of which, as well as that of the 

 main range, are different from those given on 

 the map. The Su-lei-khe riv2r has been followed 

 for 200 miles, from the mountains to its entrance 

 into Lake Khalachi. The wild Kuruk-tagh 

 range has been crossed in a northwestern direc- 

 tion. All together, we have surveyed 1,000 

 miles." 



In Shota, 80 kilometres northeast of Lukchun, 

 they found the last inhabitants met with in 

 this region, two Dungan families. Up to that 

 point the country is habitable ; but from Shota 

 eastward is a dreary desert, where the only 

 water is from salt springs, surrounded by thick 

 growths of rushes, and days' journeys apart. 

 Beyond Shota 210 kilometres were two houses 

 inhabited by farmers, and here the travelers were 

 told of a lake, Shona Nor, toward the south. 

 When reached, it was found to be something 

 over 2 kilometres long by 1 broad, with low, 

 salty shores. Northwest of it, | kilometre, is 

 a little fresh-water lake, fed by springs. The 

 Shona Nor is an easterly continuation of the de- 

 pression of Lukchun. 



On the way to Sa-chu the road seemed for- 

 saken ; clay towers were met with, which had 

 formerly served as guideposts, and sometimes 

 ruins of stone station buildings, and at length, 

 75 kilometres from Kosh-bulak, the ruins of a 

 village of 40 houses. Here were three great 

 towers. The bed of a driod-up stream led down 

 from the mountains ; there were traces of buried 

 wells, once cultivated fields, and a road leading 

 southwest. Constant snowstorms filled up the 

 roads. 



The fortress Dyn-chuan is the seat of govern- 

 ment and the principal market place of the oasis 

 Sa-chu. The Mongols of the mountains bring 



down their sheep and horses, and barley, which 

 does not grow in the oasis, and provide them- 

 selves with articles of Chinese manufacture. 



Leaving camp at the oasis, Feb. 16, the expe- 

 dition passed down the Dau-che to the Su-lei- 

 che, which it flows into in time of high water, 

 at which time the Su-lei-che flows into Lake 

 Kama-chi (Kara Nor). The Dau-che has also a 

 second embouchure into the lake at high water. 

 This lake, according to the report, is incorrectly 

 laid down upon the maps as to its position, size, 

 and form. It is somewhat more than 40 kilo- 

 metres northwest of Dyn-chuan, and 20 kilo- 

 metres west from the meridian of the place 

 named. With a length of 15 kilometres and a 

 breadth of 6 to 7, it forms an ellipse with the 

 axis of length toward the northeast. Along its 

 swampy southern shore are yellow clay ruins, 

 which extend a long distance westward. The 

 desert lies in a lofty valley between two moun- 

 tain ranges which seldom reach the height of 

 1,800 metres. The northern range is called 

 Chol-tagh, meaning "desert, waterless moun- 

 tains," and the southern Kuruk-tagh, meaning 

 about the same dry mountains. 



Two Russian travelers, Menkhudjinow and 

 Ulanow, are reported to have succeeded in pene- 

 trating to Lassa, the capital of Tibet, and into 

 the presence of the Tibetan pope, the Dalailama. 

 Attempts of Russian and English explorers have 

 hitherto been thwarted by the Tibetan authori- 

 ties. These men were disguised as Tartars, and 

 were able to sustain the deception by their 

 knowledge of the Mongol language and customs. 

 J. Theodore Bent and Mrs. Bent made a jour- 

 ney through the Hadramut, in southeastern 

 Arabia. This, he says, is not now, as is gener- 

 ally supposed, a district running along the coast 

 between the sea and the central desert, but a 

 broad valley running for 100 miles or more par- 

 allel to the coast, by which the valleys of the 

 high Arabian plateau discharge their not very 

 abundant supply of water into the sea at Saihut, 

 toward which place this valley gradually slopes. 

 Hadramut was the former frankincense country, 

 and one of the four ancient kingdoms of south- 

 ern Arabia. It has been visited before, so far as 

 is known, by only one European, Leo Hirsch, a 

 German botanist, who went through it in Ara- 

 bian dress in 1893. Mr. and Mrs. Bent were the 

 first to make the journey in European dress, and 

 Mr. Bent believes they were able to make more 

 impression on the natives and to go farther und 

 see more than would have been the case if they 

 had gone in disguise. They did not go through 

 the entire stretch of the Wady Hadramut, but 

 visited its upper course and the capital, Shibam, 

 and crossed the high plateau, or akaba. Their 

 observations were mostly of archa3ologic and 

 ethnologic interest. He describes the country 

 as in great measure arid and destitute of re- 

 sources. Of the valleys running into the Ha- 

 dramut he says : 



The curious feature of most of these valleys is the 

 rapid descent; they appear as if they had been taken 

 outof the high plateau like slices out of a cake. Tl> y 

 do not appear to have been formed by a fall <>f water 

 from this plateau ; in fact, it is impossible that a suf- 

 ficient force of water could ever have existed on this 

 flat surface to form this elaborate valley system. In 

 the valleys themselves there is very little slope, for 



