1866.] Astronomical 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 Fauku pass, to Ush. 

 Until the astronomical labours of 1850, 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 after 

 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-luu and 

 in Turkestan, are determined by the marc he-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, 



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