4i8 DZUNGARIA 



Asia, scoured by icebergs descending from ancient glaciers 

 on the Ala-tau and Barlik Mountains and forested 

 perhaps down to the water's edge, — not unhke the Straits 

 of Belle Isle at the present day. Now a change has been 

 wrought ; earth-movement has drained the sea. But 

 away to the north there still remain the lakes of Ala 

 Kul, Sasik Kul, and Balkash, and on the south Ebi 

 Nor, — pools left in the desert — all that remains of the 

 great icy sea. The alluvial plains, once its bed, are now 

 covered by desert grasses, while the forest clings only to 

 the shaded slopes and gullies on the northern slopes of 

 the mountains." * 



The Dzungarian Gate, however, is not such an im- 

 portant dividing-line as might be expected, for although 

 the Barlik — on the one side — was at one period geo- 

 graphically cut off from the Ala-tau portion of the Tian 

 Shan mountain-system — on the other side, — yet geologi- 

 cally they appear to be the same, and, judging from the 

 observations we made during our visit to these ranges 

 in the summer of 1911, we find the Barlik is really also 

 linked to the Tian Shan group by ties of similarity of 

 flora and fauna. For instance, the spruce-pine peculiar 

 to the Tian Shan {Abies schrenkiana) grows on the Barlik 

 group but does not extend farther to the east ; these 

 mountains forming also the north-easterly limit of the 

 Chukar Partridge (Caccahis chukar). " The real dividing- 

 line between Tian Shan and Altai types probably lies 

 somewhere between the Barlik group and the Sair Moun- 

 tain, and not, as might be expected, in the rift-like 

 depression called the Dzungarian Gate.^ The Sair Moun- 



1 Price's brief summary of his observations, as published in the 

 Geographical Journal for February 191 1. 



" The question of the easterly continuation of this dividing-Une between; 

 the Tian Shan and Altai is dealt with in the Appendixes. 



