186 EXPEDITION TO KALMUK. 



expedition into Kalmuk and up into the Tian 

 Shan mountains, where, report said, great sport 

 was to be obtained Ovis poll, stags, bears, 

 leopards, &c. 



The Kalmuki recommended by the Aksakal 

 came to see me. He was a fine big man, and, 

 excepting his pig -tail, might have been an 

 Englishman ; but he was not encouraging. 

 According to him, Yulduz was a fine sporting- 

 place, but not at this season : the cold was so 

 great, and the snow so deep, that no one could 

 live there. He described it as a high open 

 valley in the heart of the Tian Shan range, 

 approached by roads from Kuldja and Kalmuk, 

 both over high passes. According to my map, 

 the Kasho^ar river has its source there. Run- 



o 



ning through Kalmuk, it falls into a lake at 

 Karachar, and emerging again, flows in a south- 

 westerly direction to Kurla, where I found it, 

 after which its course is not properly defined ; 

 but, from information given me, it must sweep 

 round, until it runs again towards Lobnor and 

 joins the Tarim, before it empties itself into 

 that lake. 



The passes into Yulduz were the difficulty, and 

 there was no road up the Kaidugol river. From 



