SHUGA RANGE. 179 



crossed and shallow throughout ; it flows with a 

 course of 200 miles {so the Mongols told us) along 

 the southern foot of the range, and then disappears 

 in the marshes of Western Tsaidam. Its valley, like 

 that of the Nomokhun-gol, is grassy and fertile, com- 

 pared with the sterile mountains on either side. 



The Shuga range closely resembles the Burkhan 

 Buddha. Here we find the same absence of life, 

 the same bare slopes varying in colour and shade 

 according to the nature of the clay, or of the rocks 

 which cover them. Huge crags of limestone and 

 epidote are piled on their summits, but by the Tibe- 

 tan road the ascent and descent are gentle, although 

 the absolute elevation is greater than that of the 

 more northerly range. ^ In the centre of this chain 

 five isolated peaks attain the limit of perpetual 

 snow.^ 



This range forms the political boundary between 

 Mongolia (i.e. the Tsaidam district) and Tibet. But 

 the frontier is not laid down with accuracy, and the 

 Tibetans claim the territory up to the Burkhan 

 Buddha. Serious disputes, however, are not likely 

 to arise, because for a distance of 530 miles along 

 the Tibetan road, i.e. from the Burkhan Buddha to 

 the southern slopes of the Tang-la, there is no popu- 



' The pass over the Shuga is 1 5,500 feet. 



"^ These five peaks were about five miles to the east of our line of 

 march ; their apparent height above the pass is 2,000 feet ; in the middle 

 of December and middle of February snow lay in quantities on their 

 northern slopes, and on the south in a narrow belt only, near the very 

 highest summits. 



N 2 



