TRUE VOLCANOES. 335 



The volcano of Peshan, northward of Kutsche, in the great 

 mountain chain of the Thian-schan or Celestial Mountains, in 

 Central Asia; eruptions of lava within the true historical 

 period, from the year 89 up to the beginning of the 7th cen- 

 turv of our era. 



The volcano ofllo-cheu, called also sometimes in the very 

 circumstantial Chinese geographies the volcano of Turfan ; 

 120 geographical miles from the great Solfatara of Urumtsi, 

 near the eastern extremity of the Thian-schan, in the direc- 

 tion of the beautiful fruit country of Ilami. 



The volcano of Demavend, which rises to a height of up- 

 ward of 19,000 feet, lies nearly 36 geographical miles from 

 the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, in Mazenderan, and 

 almost at the same distance from Resht and Asterabad, on 

 the chain of the Hindu-kho, which slopes suddenly down to 

 the west in the direction of Herat and Meshid. I have else- 

 where (Asie Centrale, t. i., p. 124-129 ; t. iii., p. 433-435) 

 mentioned the probability that the Hindu-kho of Chitral and 

 Kafiristan is a westerly continuation of the mighty Kuen-lun, 

 which bounds Thibet toward the north and intersects the Bo- 

 lor Mountains in the Tsungling. The Demavend belongs to 

 the Persian or Caspian Elburz, a system of mountains which 

 must not be confounded with the Caucasian ridge of the 

 same name (now called Elburuz), and which lies 7^° farther 

 north and 10° farther west. The word Elburz is a corrup- 

 tion of Alborj, or Mountain of the World, which is connected 

 with the ancient cosmogony of the Zends. 



While the volcano of Demavend, according to the gener- 

 ality of geognostic views on the direction of the mountain 

 chains of Central Asia, bounds the great Kuen-lun chain 

 near its western extremity, another igneous appearance at 

 its eastern extremity, the existence of which I was the first 

 to announce (Asie Centrale, t. ii., p. 427 and 483), deserves 

 particular notice. In the course of the important researches 

 which I recommended to my respected friend and colleague 

 in the Institute, Stanislas Julien, with the view of deriving 

 information from the rich geographical sources of old Chinese 

 literature on the subject of the Bolor, the Kuen-lun, and the 

 Sea of Stars, that intelligent investigator discovered, in the 

 great Dictionary published in the beginning of the 18th cen- 

 tury by the Emperor Yong-ching, a description of the " eter- 

 nal flame" which issues from an opening in the hill called 

 Shin-khien, on the eastern slope of the Kuen-lun. This lu- 

 minous phenomenon, however deeply seated it may be, can 



