& 



NORTH-WEST MONGOLIA AND CHINESE DZUNGAEIA. 3.')3 



Itinerari/ of the FJ.rpedition on the jS.W. Mongolian I'hi/ean. 



The Kemchik River is a left tributary of the Upper Yenisoi, joining the 

 Ulu Keiii just above the goroe, through which it flows to tl>e lowlands ot 

 Siberia. The valley of the Kemchik was visited by the expedition during 

 July 1910. Starting from Dja Kul, a frontier trading post (1.S80 feet) on the 

 Ulu Kern Kiver, the route lay westwards along the Kemchik for 50 miles. 

 Here the mountain mass of the Kizil Taiga was visited, after which the 

 Kemchik valley was crossed south-west to the Tannn-ola mountains. 



The plains of the valley bottom on the Kemchik were covered with Plateaii- 

 deseit association. On alluvial soil were found Caraijnna spinosa, Urtiiu 

 dioiro, Elymiis dasijftai-hys. On northern slopes and in sheltei-ed hollows, 

 patches of the Larch-forest a'^sociation were to be seen, accompanied by 

 JPotentiUa bifnrca and Aconitinn barhatum. 



The mountain mass of the Kizil Taiga, which lay in the centre of the 

 drainage area of the Kemchik, was surrounded ))y plateau-desert flora up to 

 about 4000 feet. At this point Larch forest commenced in shady places and 

 continued nearly up to the summit. Finns sih/rica was found in conjunction 

 with' Larix sibirica. The former slightly predominated on rocky ground, 

 and the latter in those aspects more open and exposed to the sun. Natural 

 regeneration of both these species was going on, but the Ijarch appeared to 

 be badly affected by summer frosts. About the forest-line there was a con- 

 siderable ai'ea covered with dead logs of Larch trees, larger than anj' growing 

 at present below this line. It seemed that the forest at one time extended 

 much higher up the mountain tlian at the present. The flora of the barren 

 mountain tops (6500 feet) contains a mixture of both Alpine meadow and 

 Larch-forest association apparently in competition with one another. The 

 Larch-forest association was represented by Potentilla biftirca, Spirwa 

 Vacnniinn iiliginosvin, Aconitiim sp., and Veratrinn nigrum. The Alpino 

 association was represented by Betula nana, Gentiana prostrata, and Dryas 

 octopetala. There was a considerable amount also of Pna and Fescue grasses 

 mixed in with these floras. Li fact it seemed that two floral associations 

 distinctly joined on the summit of the Kizil Taiga. 



Leaving the Yenisei basin by a right tributary of the Kemchik, the 

 expedition crossed the Tanuu-ola mountains into the plateau which drains 

 into Lake Ubsa, The Tannu-ola mountains form a watershed between the 

 inland drainage of North-West Mongolia and the Arctic drainage of Siberin. 

 In its western end it presents a solid range of rolling downs and is crossed 

 by several passes. The Bovashay Pass, crossed by the expedition at 6854- feet, 

 was covered with forests of stunted Larch and Siberian Pine scattered about 

 in open order, with much dead timber. Finns sibirica was, in the main, 

 dominant, with floral representatives from the Larch-forest association 

 and a few Alpine meadow types. On a peak overlooking the Bovashay 

 Pass, reindeer-moss. Sphagnum, Varcinium idiginosum, Fotenfilhi Jnfnrra, and 



