1876.] Are We Drying Up? 515 
recent geological period, — resulting in the almost entire disap- 
pearance of extensive lakes,——and also that this desiccation is 
still going on. 
7 The observations of Mr. Drew, the author of an elaborate 
work on the Jummoo and Kashmir territories,! fully corroborates 
~ the often previously expressed opinion, that the Valley of Kash- 
= mir was, in later geological times, completely occupied by a lake. 
_ But no evidence has, as yet, been discovered to prove that this 
desiccation took place during the historical period, although the 
= traditions of the natives point in that direction. There is, how- 
ever, abundant proof of diminution in the area covered by water 
_ inthe basin of the Aral and Caspian seas, not only during the 
latest geological epoch, but also within a comparatively recent 
_ period. Those who wish to investigate the matter will find the 
=~ Material in a paper by Major Wood, published in the journal of 
the Royal Geographical Society for 1875. There is no doubt of 
the former vastly greater extension of the Caspian and Aral seas. 
While there has been much discussion with regard to the shift- 
ing of the channels of the rivers entering these seas, and their 
Variations of height at various times during the historic period, 
it seems beyond dispute that a gradual desiccation of the region 
has been in progress, and that it is still going on. That there 
once existed here a vast Asiatic Mediterranean which connected 
y navigable waters with the Northern Ocean is very generally 
admitted. With reference to the diminution in the water of 
Lake Aral at present going on, Major Wood says: 2 « The sand- 
rives and tracts of hard clay occurring on the low shores of Lake 
Aral point to the conclusion that extensive areas of country 
which are now dry land were formerly covered by the water- 
Spread of the lake. It has been remarked that the mouth of 
the Syr-Daria has become in recent years fordable, and that the 
depth of water between the island of Tokmak Atta and the 
south shore of Lake Aral has diminished. It is also an estab- 
lished fact that a minaret, which gray-beards of the Kirghiz state 
Was formerly situated on the edge of the eastern shore, is now at 
Some hours’ walk distant from it; and finally, since 1848, when 
It was a marshy swamp, Gulf Abougir, at the southwest corner 
of the Lake, has been entirely dried up, and its bed is now under 
_ cultivation. ‘There is no doubt that the cause of this continuous 
Per mtr, ake a eee ee 
a eee Ree, a ema ae eat ope re 
Peete St ates we At ir ag Aa i a on 
* The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories. A Geographical Account. By Frederic 
TTE. R. G. S., F. G; S. . 1875. 
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xlv. page 403. 
