48o HAMI, OR KUMUL 



salt for irrigation. Beyond this point there is no continu- 

 ous flow, the drainage is spasmodic, regulated by the 

 supply from the mountains. In summer, when the snows 

 melt in the highlands, there may be a flow of water above 

 ground to the lakes of Shona Nor, which the Russian 

 maps mark as forming the terminus of the river of Kumul. 

 This would be, however, for a very short period only, 

 and I think it probable that these "lakes " are in reality 

 only marshy ground containing a few stagnant pools, 

 formed by the residue of the drainage oozing up at this 

 level, — which is the " water-table." 



These imaginary lakes have crept into the maps and 

 are religiously copied from edition to edition, no one 

 having visited them since the time of the early Russian 

 explorers who located them, in most cases, by hearsay. 

 Thus, the illusive problem of Lake Toll, — that mysterious 

 patch of blue in the desert to the south of Kumul, — 

 had long attracted my attention and made me desirous 

 of solving its mystery. Lake Toli remains unvisited, 

 but from information I gathered at Kumul I am in a 

 position to give a satisfactory explanation of its character ; 

 and its existence, in a somewhat modified form, may 

 safely be accepted. 



The Kumuliks have a somewhat unusual rendering 

 for the Turki words relating to water, signifying 

 springs, lakes, rivers, etc.; the meaning they attach 

 to the ordinary Turki words for these being, in some 

 degree, responsible for the supposition that Toli was a 

 lake. They give a very exact interpretation of such 

 words as " daria," " bulak," and " kul." For instance, 

 a river is only a " daria " for a short time in early 

 summer, when the channel is full ; they speak only of 

 " daria " when the melted snows from the mountains 



