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 



