132 Notes on Central Asia. [No. 3, 
in the Celestial mountains, to which Humboldt in his works so often 
alludes. I started on my journey firmly persuaded that I should find 
the conjectured volcanoes, or at all events some volcanic forms, and I 
sought diligently (as Schrenck did on lake Ala-kul) to establish the 
correctness of Humboldt’s surmises, with respect to the existence of 
volcanic phenomena in Central Asia, by which confirmation I knew a 
traveller would gain greater credit than by an incomplete refutation 
of the hypothesis. I was even aware that Humboldt was rather 
displeased with the researches of Schrenk who clearly showed that the 
island of Aral-Tibe on lake Ala-kul was not of volcanic origin. 
The opinions entertained by Humboldt on the subject of the existence 
of volcanoes in Djungaria were favourite ones with him, and I regret 
that I was not able to confirm his cherished theory. Kullok peak, 
another of Humboldt’s mistaken volcanoes, was found to have no 
voleanic origin whatever. The hot springs, and the non-congelation 
of the waters of lake Issyk-Kul, were not accompanied by any 
volcanic forms in the Tian-Shan, and furthermore all the native 
accounts of phenomena which from their descriptions might be supposed 
to be volcanic, proved unfounded, and were at once disposed of on my 
examination of the localities where they were declared to occur. The 
result therefore of my researches on this point was that I became 
convinced of the complete absence of volcanoes, distinct volcanic 
phenomena, or even volcanic forms throughout the Celestial mountains. 
It is true that there existed in Djungaria at one period some 
“ Solfaters” or smoking cavities from which there was a discharge and 
deposit of sulphur, and that some of these fissures, out of which the — 
Chinese obtain sulphur, emit smoke even at the present day. But a 
careful inspection of one of the extinguished pits satisfied me, that at 
all events in that case, there was no volcanic affinity. 
In the neighbourhood of the pits which I discovered in the Kati 
mountains, and in the Ili valley, I could trace no volcanic forms, but | 
ironstone occurred, and owed its formation, as far as I could judge, to 
the pyrites that were widely spread in the vicinity; there was at the 
same time a discharge of sulphur emitted in the form of vapour out of 
numerous fissures and which left a deposit on the sides. It is to be 
taken into consideration that I found a coal formation largely developed 
throughout the Ili basin, and that coal is obtained by the Chinese in 

