MONGOLIA 



71 



pouring westward into Europe and eastward into 

 China. 



Tibet and Pamirs-Tsaidam. Enclosed and traversed 

 by the loftiest and most formidable mountains of the 

 world, Tibet consists of a succession of parallel valleys 

 choked with the glacial wastes of their dividing ranges 

 up to an elevation of 15,000 feet above sea-level, thus 



FIG. 16. * The Top of the Last Pass '. 



forming a series of wide, flat plateaus, separated by long 

 ridges. The mountain-chains converge towards the 

 west and lead through a row of stupendous gullies, still 

 partly occupied by glaciers, to another region of broad 

 and level floors or 'Pamirs' of the same origin as 

 those of Tibet, to which, therefore, the name may be 

 conveniently extended. Towards the east the Chinese 

 rivers, fed by the monsoon rainfall, have cut for 



