EXPLORATION IN CHINESE TURKESTAN. 759 



'Svhite jado." Hence the route to Karanghu-tagh, the southernmost 

 inhabited place, leads over a series of more or less parallel ranges that 

 separate side valleys draining from the east. These outer ranges, 

 rising in a succession of plateaus fissured bj'' deep winding ravines, 

 exhibit in a most striking form the results of that extreme disinte- 

 gration which is the characteristic feature of the whole mountain sys- 

 tem. Nothing but loose earth, gravel, or conglomerate in the last 

 stage of decomi)osition is to be seen on the surface of the hillsides; 

 while their high elevation and the dryness of the climate prevent the 

 growth of any but the scantiest vegetation in rare patches of low, 

 tough grass. The effects of the dust haze which rises so constantly 

 over the desert plains were still sufiicientl}' marked to prevent any distant 

 view being obtained from the Ulugh Dawan, by which we crossed 

 the Tikelik Kange at an elevation of about l-?,()()0 feet. But from the next 

 range, between the valleys of Buj'a and Pisha, a very extensive pan- 

 orama opened out before us. 



In a grand mountain mass raising its glacier-crowned head in solitary 

 splendor to the southeast, it was impossible to mistake the '* Kuen-luen 

 peak. No. 5," already triangulated from the Ladak side (pi. ii). Behind 

 this great mountain, for which the tables snpplii^d by the survc}" depart- 

 ment indicated a height of 28,81H> feet, to the south and southeast 

 there was to be seen a magnificent line of high snowy peaks marking 

 the watershed toward the westernmost portion of the Aksai-chin 

 plateau of Tibet. It soon l)ecame clear that the Yurung-kash has cut 

 its way between the main range and the great mass of " K5," or Muz- 

 tagh ("the ice mountain," k^t'' fWoj/^K, as it is called by the few 

 Taghliks of these valleys). Its course is indicated l>y a gap l)etween 

 the stupendous spurs which descend from Muztagh, and from the 

 almost equally high peaks on the watershed range, and could, in the 

 remarkal)ly clear atmosphere that favored us, be made out for a con- 

 siderable distance to the southeast. It was found to run exactly in 

 the direction Avhere Captain Deasy had traced the real source of the 

 river. In other respects, too, the orographical features actually before 

 us differed strikmgly from those which the above-mentioned sketch 

 map had led me to expect. 



The next outer range, which was crossed at an elevation of close on 

 11,000 feet, offered a still better view of this magnificent piiiioiama. 

 But vainly I searched the crest line for other peaks which could ])e 

 identified with points already triangulated from the Ladak side, and 

 which would thus secure to us the eagerly sought connection with the 

 Indian trigonometrical system. The descent which followed, of some 

 6,000 feet, to the deep rock-bound gorge of the Yurung-kash, was by 

 its steepness and ruggedness an experience long to be remembered, 

 especially as night overtook us. The track was almost impracticable 



SM 1903 19 



