— 133 — 
vegetation was richer: Salsola Arbuscula, Calligonum sp., Ar- 
temisia, Saxaul, Salsola sclerantha. 
10. Desert at Ak Jar and northwards, on the left bank 
of the Amu Darya. June 28. 1898. 
An undulating plain of argillaceous slate and loess cov- 
ered with a layer of sand or gravel. The slate appears on 
the surface here and there, forming small knolls. There is a 
slight sand-drift and small hillocks of sand lie round the 
base of the shrubs. The vegetation in places is uncommonly 
rich, the distance between the shrubs being on an average 
about 2 metres. The most common plants are: Salsola rigida 
and Arbuscula (the clay-form, in flower) and Reaumuria 
oxiana. This plant is more conspicuous than the others 
because its foliage is darker and not so grey; it has fruits 
and flower-buds, but no flowers open (2 p. m.). Lycium 
ruthenicum rarely occurs (any specimens seen are over a 
metre high), Saxaul is more frequent but thrives badly here 
rarely attaining a height of 0,5 metre, many specimens are 
quite red or reddish. The herbaceous plants are Salsola 
sclerantha, Lepidium obtusum, and in other places: Halimoc- 
nemis villosa and Suæda sp. The latter sometimes scrambles 
over Lycium and other shrubs somewhat like a liane; it 
may attain a height of half a metre. 
The depressions are small “Takyr” (p. 55), the light- 
coloured soil is stiff, regularly cracked by desiccation and 
often lacks vegetation. In some places, however, Halimoc- 
nemis villosa occurred abundantly; in one depression Haloc- 
nemum strobilaceum grew luxuriantly, I measured a circular 
tuft 140 centimetres in diameter. 
A similar gravel-plain at Pitnjak, not far from Ak Jar, 
was sparsely covered with Peganum Harmala, Convolvulus 
eremophilus and Anabasis salsa. No switch-bushes were 
found here. 
11. A low mountain north of the fortress Ustyk (Bu- 
chara) on the right bank of the Amu Darya. June 19. 1899. 
The mountain is terraced with low crags about 1—4 
metres high. It consists of a soft stratified sandstone with 
diverging layers mostly red in colour. Behind it stretches 
the bare sand-desert. On the mountain the soil mainly con- 
