KWAN-LUN SYSTEM. 363 



tumen, has 15,000 houses and 80,000 inhabitants, 

 although it is smaller than Samarcand. 



The western prolongation of the Teen-shan or 

 the Mouz-tagh, is deserving of particular examina- 

 tion. At the point where the Bolor or Belour-tagh 

 joins the Mouz-tagh at right angles, the latter con- 

 tinues to run without interruption from east to west, 

 under the name of Asferah-tagh, to the south of the 

 Sihon, towards Kodjend and Ourat-eppeh in Fer- 

 * ganah. This chain of Asferah, which is covered 

 with perpetual snow, separates the sources of the 

 Sihon (Jaxartes) from those of the Arnou (Oxus). It 

 turns to the south-west nearly in the meridian of 

 Kodjend, and in this direction is named, till it ap- 

 proaches Samarcand, Aktagh, or Al-Botous. More 

 to the west, on the fertile banks of the Kohik, com- 

 mences the vast depression of ground comprising 

 Great Bucharia and the country of Mavar-ul-Nahar ; 

 but beyond the Caspian Sea, nearly in the same 

 latitude and in the same direction as the Teen-shan 

 range, is seen the Caucasus with its porphyries and 

 trachytes. It may, therefore, be considered as a 

 continuation of the fissure upon which the Teen-shan 

 is raised in the east, just as, to the west of the great 

 mass of mountains of Adzarbaidjan and Armenia, 

 Mount Taurus is a continuation of the action of the 

 fissure of the Himmaleh and Hindoo-Coosh moun- 

 tains. 



3. Kwan-lun System. The Kwan-lun or Kotil-koun 

 chain is between Khoten, the mountains of Khou- 

 khou-noor and Eastern Thibet, and the country 

 named Katchi. It commences to the west at the 

 Tsung-ling mountains. It is connected with the 

 transverse chain of Bolor, as observed above, and, 

 according to the Chinese books, forms its southern 

 part. This corner of the globe, between Little Thi- 

 bet and the Boda Kohan, is very little known, 

 although it is rich in rubies, lapis lazuli, and mineral 



