CENTRAL ASIAN EXPLORATION 
9 
Yulduz, afterwards south by way of Korla, and along the 
lower Tarim, to Lop-nor (Lob-nor) and the Altyn-tagh. 
Y'hen Przhevalsky saw that it was impossible to reach 
Tibet, and particularly Lhasa, the object of his desire, 
by way of Lop-nor and the desolate region south of the 
Altyn-tagh, he determined to try what he could do by 
way of Gutshen and Khami ; but he was taken ill on the 
road, and was constrained to return to Russia. 
The crowning feature of this expedition was the dis- 
covery of the new Lop-nor, and of the great chain of 
mountains Altyn-tagh, which has so greatly altered the 
appearance of our maps of Central Asia. He also dis- 
covered the existence of the wild camel, a discovery 
afterwards confirmed by other travellers, viz., Carey, 
Younghusband, and others. 
Przhevalsky ’s third expedition lasted from March 1879 
to November 1880, and covered some 4750 miles. On 
this occasion he was accompanied by twelve natives, and 
had a sum of 23,500 roubles (.^2350) at his disposal. 
He chose Saisansk on the Russian frontier as a point 
of departure, and travelled, by way of Bulun-tokhoi and 
the Urunnu river, through Dzuncraria to Barkul, and 
thence over the Tian-shan Mountains to Khami. After 
that he crossed the Desert of Gobi, touching his former 
route at a couple of points. This time he penetrated 
much further to the south, namely, across the Yang-tse- 
kiang and the Tan-la Mountains as far as 32° N. lat. 
Przhevalsky’s fourth and last journey began in October 
1883, and ended in the same month two years later. With 
twenty followers, most of them Cossacks, he accomplished 
a distance of 4850 miles; the cost of the expedition being 
42,250 roubles (,^4225). 
From Kiakhta he crossed the Gobi by the same route 
ke had taken on a previous occasion, and went on further 
through the highlands of Kan-su as far as the two lakes 
of Tsaring-nor and Oring-nor, the twin sources of the 
Hwang-ho. This was the culminating point of the fourth 
journey. After a deviation to the Yang-tse-kiang, he 
continued on through Tsaidam, thence over the Altyn-tagh 
