FROM KULJA TO KUMUL 467 



from this point the plateau rises in an easy incline to 

 its average altitude of 6,000 ft. ; the plateau is crowned 

 with a bewildering maze of isolated crests and summits 

 which form in themselves a wild turmoil of hill-country, 

 most difficult to map ; I found it hard to gain even a 

 broad idea of the essential features. Looking westwards, 

 a higher ridge showed where the first spurs of the Bogdo- 

 ola rose out of the plateau ; eastwards the jumble of hills 

 continued as far as eye could reach without any indica- 

 tion of the existence of the Barkul range. 



To climb on to the watershed necessitated only a 

 rise of 1,000 ft., but the track was in so bad a condition 

 that the carts had to be taken up one at a time with the 

 aid of five horses. We crossed the watershed, — character- 

 ized by a broad, open, plateau-like summit, — and began 

 immediately to descend into a gorge surrounded by 

 rough hill-country of most amazing barrenness. The 

 whole of the next day we were passing through a winding 

 gorge between naked crags, remarkable for their tilted 

 and sometimes even perpendicular strata. Not a 

 tussock of grass, not a vestige of growth relieved the 

 blank landscape, which was composed of black shale 

 slopes, sterile ridges, and valleys choked with denuded 

 matter. In spite of the thaw we found only one tiny 

 spring of water. This sudden change of climate and of the 

 physical conditions was emphasized by the fact that w'e 

 were now beyond the snow-zone ; quite unexpectedly 

 we found ourselves surrounded by a landscape of intense 

 blackness instead of glistening white. During one day's 

 journey we passed out of Dzungaria into Chinese Turkestan, 

 and on entering the latter we immediately came across 

 an example of its most important characteristic, namely, 

 the gradual process of desiccation to which it is subjected, 



