66 _ General Notes. [January, 
month, and suggests that an attempt made in October or Novem- 
ber would be still more successful. 
Asiatic Notes.—Zhe Upper Oxus. Mr. R. Michell (Proc. 
Roy. Geog. Soc., Sept., 1884) gives an account of Karateghin and 
Darwaz, regions situated on the upper course of the Oxus. 
Karateghin occupies the middle course of the Kizyl-see or Surk- 
hab, the largest tributary of the Oxus; while Darwaz, to the 
south of Karateghin, lies upon the Panj or main Upper Oxus 
and upon the Hing-ab, a tributary of the Surkhab. These two 
Bokharian provinces are walled in by snow-capped mountains ten 
to eighteen thousand feet high, and can only be entered by ways 
passing over the most difficult passes. Karateghin consists of a 
series of hollows or expansions in the valley of the Surkhab, and 
each of these expansions gives evidence, from its terraced clayey 
sides, that it was once a lake. The smaller basins are separated 
by mountain spurs. Grain and fruits of the temperate climes 
grow in abundance in this elevated valley. The Tadjiks of Kara- 
teghin claim to be descended from the soldiers of Alexander’s 
army, and Mr. Michell believes that the hereditary chiefs may 
really be so descended, but suggests that the Tadjiks themselves 
may be the descendants of the ancient Bactrians. The principal 
valley of Darwaz is the grassy and fruitful vale of the Hing-ab, 
whither, spite of the asperity of the roads, immense herds of 
cattle are driven every year from Hissar to graze. Another 
well-to-do valley is that of the Saghri-Dasht, a tributary of the 
Hing-ab. The valley of the Panj itself has little cultivable land, 
but in it stands Kila-Khumb, the residence of the Bek of Darwaz. 
At the south-east limit of Darwaz is an impassable gorge, separat- 
ing it from Roshan, which belongs to Afghanistan. Sir Hy. 
Rawlinson stated that Roshan was the exact Oriental rendering 
of Roxana, and it was here that the Bactrian chief, Oxyartes, the 
father of Roxana, had his residence. The Tadjik has straight, 
fine black hair, and deep-set, lively black eyes, and is thus quite 
different from the Uzbeg Tartars. 
MıscELLANEOUS Nores.—Mr. C. Winnecke has explored a part 
of central North Australia near the western boundary of Queens- 
land, as far as 136° 46” E. long. He has discovered various 
minor lakes and mountains and one river, the Hay, a feeder of the 
Marshall, but the general aspect of the country is that of a 
waterless desert of spinifex and low scrub, except in the valleys of 
the rivers, where there is grass and also gum and box trees. 
to science. A recent work by an Austrian Slav enumerates 
eleven millions of Slavs. Counting Russians, Poles and Czechs, 
the Slavonians of Europe reach 100 millions, 
SM Gitta erat diene gh, SS eo Seip rs aie 
F 
