1866. ] Astrononucal points of Central Asia. 49 
In support of this, we shall here bring forward the following example. 
There are two routes, besides others, across the Tian Shan leading to 
little Bokhara; one from Kuldja to Aksu, the other from the south- 
ern shore of Lake Issyk-kul by way of the Faukt pass, to Ush. 
Until the astronomical labours of 1859, both these routes presented 
on the map considerable angles with the axis of the mountain range ; 
the first one of nearly 45°, and the other that of 30°, but according 
to the astronomical results obtained in 1859, it was found that the 
inclination of routes from Kuldja to Aksu, to the axis of the range, 
did not exceed 30°, while the route to Ush intersects the ridge in a 
direct line, and runs north and south. It appears strange then alter 
this, if, seeing the great inclination of the transverse routes to the axis 
of the mountains, that Issyk-kul, with the neighbouring countries on 
the northern side of the Tian Shan, had not been before removed to 
the west, as was done subsequently in consequence of the astronomical 
determinations; or that all the series. of points in Little Bokhara were 
not removed to the east, and in every case not to the west. Facts 
like these, speak in favour of the positions of Ush and Asku, and other 
towns of Little Bokhara determined by the Jesuits ; and it must be 
observed, that up to: the present time no one has had the same means, 
as possessed by them, of determining the relative positions of these 
towns. The last point that the Schlagintweits determined instru- 
mentally, is Suget, a halting place for caravans, proceeding from 
Ladak to Yarkand. This route is marked on a very rare map, which 
is a direct copy of an original one compiled by the Jesuits and trans- 
lated by Klaproth ; a point on this road under the same latitude with 
Suget, as determined by the Schlagintweits, has nearly one and the same 
longitude. Beyond Suget, all the other points on the Kuen-lun and 
in Turkestan, are determined by the marche-routes ; the most northern 
of these and nearest to Khotan, which the two brothers Herman and 
Robert succeeded in reaching, is the village of Bashia. ~ This point is 
also given on the map of the Jesuits, its position being fixed by 
marche-routes, not by direct determination. The difference in the 
positions of Bashia, as given by the Jesuits and the brothers Schla- 
gintweit, amounts to 6’ in latitude, and 47’ in longitude. How is it 
then possible, after this, to accept the position of Khotan, and with it 
that of the other towns of Turkestan, as given by the Schlagintweits, 
7 
