EXPLORATION IN CHINESE TURKESTAN. 761 



Be3'ond the Yagan-Dawan Pass, by which I crossed into the drainage 

 area of the Kara-kash ("black jade'') Kiver, I had ample opportunity 

 to observe the extraordinary results produced b^^ erosion on mountain 

 formations subject to excessive disintegration (pi. iii). It appeared to 

 me that only the erosive action of water could liave produced that 

 perfect maze of deep-cut arid gorges through which we had to wind 

 our wa3^ Yet in this very region the fall of rain and snow is now 

 ver}" scanty, and the consequent absence of water is a serious obstacle 

 for the traveler. Luckily, we could overcome it by the transport 

 of ice. 



I had almost despaired of connecting our survey work with the 

 Indian triangulation, when unexpectedly the last range we had to 

 cross toward the plains revealed a view more extensive than any 

 before. Among the many high snowy peaks visible southward, and 

 also beyond the upper Kara-kash River, two more triangulated points, 

 besides "Kuen-luen No. 5," could be identified with certainty. It 

 thus became possible to determine our position on the Ulughat-Dawan, 

 close on 10,000 feet above the sea, by theodolite and to measure angles 

 to all prominent heights of the ranges within view. To the north 

 there extended, boundless like the sea, the vast plain of the desert. 

 The light dust haze covering it looked beautiful as it reflected the 

 brilliant moonlight of that first night I spent on the pass waiting for 

 the arri\al of water. The dinner for which it was needed, did not get 

 ready till 2 a. m. I knew that a wind raising the haze would effec- 

 tivel}" stop further surve}^ work. So I hurried to reach another high 

 ridge farther east, with an equally extensive view, that would allow 

 us to complete the triangulation. It was successfully climbed after a 

 great detour that cost us two days, and just in time. As the work 

 was approaching completion, a strong wind sweeping over the desert 

 carried up a thick dust haze, and for weeks efl'aced all distant views. 

 Some prominent [)eaks in the outer range of hills, which are visible 

 from Khotan town when the atmosphere is clear, have been fixed by 

 our work. With the help of these points it will be possible to connect 

 Khotan with the Indian trigonometrical S3'stem, and finall}' to verify 

 its longitude. But such occasions of dust-clear weather are rare, and 

 of the only one which occurred during m}' subsequent short stay in 

 Khotan, in April, full advantage could not l)e tak(Mi by mys(>lf. 

 Thus this task is still left to a future traveler, who will he ai)le to 

 atlord time for ])atiently awaiting his opportunity at Khotan. 



By the middle of November I had returned to Khotan, \\here, after 

 our rough and rapid marches through th(> mountains, I was glad to 

 allow my men and animals a well-earned shoi-t rest before starting 

 once more for the wint(M-\s work in the desert. 1 myself was busv at 

 work with the examination of the antiquities which the prospecting 

 parties, sent out a month earlier, had brought back from various sites 



