a 
west, (Darwas), where there are peaks more than 7,000 
métres high. 
From a geographical point of view, the Eastern part 
alone belongs to “Central Asia” as defined by RICHTHOFEN, the 
drainless water basin of olden days, where all the products 
of disintegration remain in the land itself. The larger, 
western section, on the other hand, belongs to RICHTHOFEN'S 
peripheral regions, — those having outlets into the ocean 
or its relics, — and the water of the rivers of Pamir flow- 
ing west, does empty into the Aral Sea. 
However the whole of Pamir may be included in 
MusHKETOW’s definition of Asia Media, — that territory with 
no outlet in the ocean. (See GEIGER, PAULSEN.) 
From an orographical point of view there is a difference 
between eastern, or Pamir proper and western Pamir. We 
may characterize the former as a complex of flat plains or 
broad valleys, now divided by high mountains, now suc- 
ceeding each other, tract on tract, and often watered by 
rivers. These valleys, which are from 3—4,000 mètres above 
sea level have separate names, — Little Pamir, Great Pamir, 
Alitshur Pamir, Rang Kul Pamir. Toward the west, how- 
ever, in Lower Pamir, which borders High Pamir at ca. 
73° W., the valleys are deep and narrow, the rivers flow 
more swiftly, there are no plateaus, but mountain ravines. 
Geologically considered, Pamir, that is Eastern Pamir, is 
according to IwaNorr one huge mountain mass on a lodg- 
ment of granite and gneiss. These rise to the surface, parti- 
cularly, in the southern part; toward the north they are 
largely hidden by the metamorphosed deposits of the paleo- 
zoic age (Devon?), — by slate, crystalline lime-stone, dolo- 
mites, and sandstone. Of upheavals which have formed the 
mountain ranges, the most important and the oldest is the 
one running W. S. W., for it is that upheaval, or rather that 
series of parallel upheavals, which has formed the principal 
mountain chains and valleys. 
The glacial period attained a very high development in 
Pamir. Many of its traces are still visible. A thick layer of 
ice once covered the entire country; from this jagged, pre- 
cipitous, ice-breaking peaks towered, while the lower moün- 
