496 THE KARLIK TAGH 



being the first visitors, but the following year more 

 systematic work than theirs was accomplished, and 

 finer results obtained, by the expedition under the 

 celebrated Potanin, who, with Rafailow as surveyor, 

 came down to Barkul from Kobdo and the Eastern Altai. 

 The expedition crossed the Barkul Range, paid a short 

 visit to Kumul, and returned by the same pass {the 

 Kosheti-dawan) , by which they had come. The travellers 

 then explored the northern flanks of Karlik Tagh as far 

 as Adak and Nom, and returned to Siberia by way of 

 Uliassutai. The maps of Potanin and Rafailow stood 

 for many years as the standard survey of those regions, 

 and, as a matter of fact, up till the time of our visit 

 there had been no additions to their original survey of 

 the northern flanks of the Karlik Tagh. Rafailow de- 

 termined the astronomical positions of Barkul, Adak, 

 and Kumul ; but, although his observations still hold 

 good for the two former places, more recent work by 

 Stein's surveyor and Mr. Clementi has placed Kumul 

 slightly farther to the west. The retention on the maps 

 of the work of these early explorers shows how few other 

 travellers have visited this region during the time which 

 has elapsed since its first discovery. 



The next visitor was Prjevalsky, who seems to have 

 included visits to most towns in Central Asia on his 

 itinerary of exploration. This experienced traveller, 

 on his third scientific journey through Middle Asia, 

 (1879-80), passed by Barkul — without entering it, and 

 rested for a short time at Kumul on his way to Tibet. 

 He gives a short description of the famous oasis, but 

 has nothing to say about the Karlik Tagh or neigh- 

 bouring ranges. 



Although Potanin gave us the first ideas of the 



