1840.] 



Russian Mission from Orenbourg to Bokhara, 



55 



the Ouial. Not a bush is met with in this ?p;ice, so ihat caravans are 

 oblii,c(l to cany fuel to cook or warm ilieiitsr-l ves. It is impossible (o 

 infike use of cow-diuig except in diy weather. 



The gi' .i ei i-art of the Kirghiz, stepp.e, is composed of argillaceous 

 plaii!S, siigh) ly undulftting and covered with worm-wood, a few thorny 

 piaiifs, and on a [>proiiching the south, the bush called saksaoid. 



This dreary wasie includes some exiensive sandy deserts, the larg- 

 est cT whicdi is ihe Cara cuum, bounded on the souih by the Sir-deria, 

 and the Biiip: k which extends to the north and N. E. of Turkistan : 

 having before dc scribed these deserts, it is unnecessary -again to men- 

 lion the m ; cultivated spots are to be met with, on the banks of the 

 Sir-deiia, and bt tween the river Kouwan and the Djan-deiia ; they are 

 also foundnear all the towns, for instance, near Turkistan, Tackhend, 

 and others. 



The country between the Sir and ihe Amou-deiia, is occupied by the 

 Kizii-couin, the soil on the northern and soutliein extremities is clay, 

 with less admixture of sand than the steppe of the Khirghiz, but more 

 arid, and consequently more barren. 



B 'tween the Caspian and the Sea of Aral, the soil is generally sandy, 

 water i^ here procured from wells, said to be from six to nine foises, or 

 fifty-tour feet deep. A rocky chain of mountains called Kharaghoumbet, 

 runs along the Sea of Aral, and from the banks of the Bay of Bouizouk, 

 or Koul- ^'iadjar, to the ne iresl point of the shores of the Caspian, the 

 ground is covered with shells, apparently indicating an ancient janc- 

 iion of those seas. 



The cul'ivated spots near the towns, or on the banks of rivers, are 

 merely small patches, rendered fertile by means of irrigation, the great- 

 est part of this region is a desert, inhabited solely by a small number 

 of the wandering tribes. 



The vast {)lains of Central Asia, are intersected by chains of moun- 

 tains. In the midst of the steppe of the Kirghiz the group of Olou- 

 tagh rises above all the mountains of the desert; it terminates the 

 Arghamat chain, running from east to west. Two ranges branching 

 oft" trom the Onral mountains, runs info the ste[)pe, the one near 

 Gouberlinsk, of which we have already spoken, the other near Akto. 

 caraghai, passes to the north of Verko-ouralsk ; this branch retains its 

 name as far as the source of the Tousak ; then it is greatlv diuiinished 

 in height, and takes the name of Dajabouk-caraghai, after which it 

 again attains a great elevation near the source of the Soun louk, it 

 again sinks, takes the name of Karandir-tagh, and joins one of the 

 brunches of the Moughodjar mountains. 



