118 Notes on Central Asia. [No. 3, 
the fourth decade of the present century that we became more 
familiar with Central Asia, from the side of the Djungarian and 
Kirghiz steppes, after the foundation of the Russian town Ayaguz, 
on the upper course of one of the rivers of the Balkhash basin, and 
after the submission of a portion of the great Hordes under Sultan 
Stik, son of Ablai Khan. These events gradually rendered not only 
Jake Balkhash, but also the mountainous districts of Djungaria, more 
accessible to travellers. 
In 1834 the astronomer Fedorof was enabled to reach the embou- 
chure of the Lepsa, and determine its geographical position, under 
46° 22’ North Latitude. He also succeeded in visiting the southern 
shore of lake Faisan and in making a trigonometrical measurement of 
Tarbagatai. A little later, the relations of Russia with the Kirghiz 
Hordes became more satisfactory, and in 1840, 1841 and 1842 the 
learned travellers Karelin and Schrenk, penetrated into the moun- 
tainous portions of Djungaria or the Snow-clad Djungarian Alatau. 
Karelin explored the wild valleys of the upper courses of the Lepsa, 
Sarkan and Baskan rivers, as high as the snow-line. 
Alexander Schrenk visited, and it may be said discovered to science, . 
the lake Ala-Kul, crossed over the Djungarian Alatau to the Chinese 
side, attained the upper course of the Tentek, and reached the snow 
line on several occasions. The extreme limits of his journey on 
the plain bordering lake Alakul, were the Chinese town of Chu- 
guchak, in Alpine Djungaria,—the hills skirting the banks of the 
Koksu river, and the river Chu (or Tzu) in the hungry Betpak- 
-Dalor desert, South West of lake Balkhash. Subsequently the | 
voluntary submission of the remaining portion of the so-called Great 
Kirghiz Horde, in 1844, led to the Russian occupation of that rich 
and fertile portion of Djungaria, which is known under ‘the name of 
the Semipalatinsk region, from the seven tributaries of the Balkhash 
that water it. The Russian town of Kopal was founded by Governor 
General Prince Gorchakof, in 1846, on a fertile plateau at the base 
of a snow-capped spur of the Djungarian Alatau. The establishment 
of this town ensured the development of the already existing relations 
of Russia with the neighbouring Chinese province of Ih. Although 
rapidly increasing, the trade with the Western Chinese region, through 
the towns of Kuldja, and more especially Chuguchak, encountered 

