1883. ] Geography and Travels. 64! 
GENERAL NOTES. 
GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVELS.' 
Asta—Dr. L. E. Regel left Samar-land at the end of June 
last, and proceeded to Hissar by the very difficult though short- 
est route via Penja-kent, leading by the Fan river, Lake Iskander 
kul, and across the Mur pass. In the center of this region is a 
great mountain range, whose summits, the peaks of Kuli-kalan 
and the Chundar and Bodhan mountains, are seen from Samar- 
kand. South of this range runs the Saridagh valley, and beyond ' 
this rises the Hissar range proper; while northward lie the Kul- 
i-kalan plateau, and thé valleys of the Pasrut river and of a tribu- 
tary of the Voron. The plateau of Kul-i-kalan is about thirteen 
miles in circumference, and has five lakes 10,000 feet above the 
sea level. The mountains around have no real glaciers, but old 
moraines are traceable. The tocks are fossiliferous limestones, 
and the vegetation of the region is richer than that of any other 
part of the basin of the Zarafshan. The forests are richest in the 
zone between 4000 and 8000 feet above the sea level, where the ap- 
ple, cherry, nut and the Archa occur. The Archa also predomi- 
nates in the upper zone, which reaches to a height of 10,500 to 
11,000 feet—higher up than the line of perpetual snow—and has 
also birches, willows and an arborescent Ephedra. The Mur pass 
(14,000 ft.) is very steep, and immense accumulations of snow are 
found upon the southern slope, in the foggy climate of Hissar. 
A series of lower parallel ridges of fossiliferous sandstone occurs 
een the two main ranges and also betweenHakimi and Kara- 
tagh, while the mountains are syenite, syenite-gneiss, granite and 
fossiliferous slates, 
Much valuable work has been done in the Caucasus and adja- 
cent regions by the Caucasian branch of the Russian Geographical 
Society. The highlands of the Caucasus afford a greater variety 
of geological and physico-geographical features than the Alps, 
together with such a variety of botanical, zodlogical and ethno- 
logical features as can hardly be met with elsewhere, owing to their 
Position between Europe, with its moist climate, highly-indented 
Coasts and young civilizations, and Asia with its deserts and pla- 
teaux, dry climate and ancient civilizations. The longitudes and 
latitudes of Kars, Erzerum, Mysum and many other places have 
n correctly determined, and pendulum observations have 
shown that the geoid or true figure of the earth’s surface nearly 
Corresponds with the spheroid on the shores of the Black sea, but 
at Tiflis rises above it 1 587 feet, and at Gudaur 4371 feet. 
i The Kars plateau is bordered by mountains reaching 9700 feet 
in height, devoid of wood and deeply cut by rivers. Migrations 
of various peoples are still going on, Armenians, Turks, Turco- 
‘This department is edited by W. N. LOCKINGTON, Philadelphia. 
