540 BOGDO-OLA 



had no intercourse with their fellow-men, and did no 

 work ; even their bread was made in the next valley 

 and brought to them at intervals. One temple was 

 built in such a position as to be unapproachable from 

 the land side ; thus giving its inmates the additional 

 advantage of being able to shut themselves off even 

 from other priests, for there was only one boat. The 

 priests protected animal life, and were greatly con- 

 cerned at hearing the reports of my collecting-gun ; but 

 on learning that I was shooting only small birds, and 

 not the deer, they were quite satisfied. 



Turning to the purely topographical side of the 

 Bogdo-ola, the range is composed of a single main ridge 

 running, on the whole, due east and west, but in detail 

 bending and varying the direction from east to south- 

 east. The main ridge has a uniform altitude averaging 

 15,000 ft., which drops off in a sharp decline towards the 

 Dzungarian plains on the north and the Turfan depression 

 on the south. The main ridge is very steep and retains 

 its altitude with such persistency that it can only be 

 crossed in a few places. Out of this 15,000-ft. wall rises 

 another 5,000-ft. block, formed by three distinct peaks, 

 which attain a maximum altitude of over 20,000 ft. 

 These virgin peaks remain unclimbed, but Merzbacher's 

 clinometer reckonings, which he considers fairly accurate, 

 make the east peak 21,356 ft., the central peak 21,240 ft., 

 and the west peak 20,976 ft. The glaciation of this so- 

 called "secondary chain" is unusually extensive, and 

 the traces of the diluvial ice-age are remarkably de- 

 veloped. The glaciers, according to Merzbacher, are 

 more numerous on the northern than on the southern 

 slopes ; on the other hand, the largest glaciers are to 

 be found on the south. The largest glacier he measured 



