LAKE ARAL TO TASHKEND 
49 
fine yellow sand was so hard and compact that the camels’ 
hoofs left scarcely a perceptible trace ; but farther up it 
rose into sand-hills, and there the tarantass sank in up to 
the axles. 
Lake Aral lies 157 feet above the level of the sea; and 
its area is 27,000 square miles, ten times the size of Lake 
Wener, or nearly the same size as Scotland. The shores 
of the lake are barren and desolate, its depth inconsider- 
able, and the water so .salt that it cannot be used for 
drinking purposes except at the mouths of the rivers ; but 
far out in the lake there are said to exist certain fresh- 
THE STATION OF KONSTANTINOVSKAYA 
water belts. Close to the shore at the north-east end is the 
station of Ak-julpaz, and near it a low ridge of sand, on the 
top of which the Kirghiz have made a burying-place, with 
square tombs built of slabs of stone. Eight years ago the 
station stood on the actual shore. But at certain seasons 
it was threatened by inundation and became entirely cut 
off from the posting-road ; it was therefore moved about 
half a mile further inland. When there is a high wind 
from the south-west, the water is driven up the bay 
towards the desert, and overflows the shore for great 
distances, filling up all the hollows and depressions of the 
ground. In these pools sturgeon and other fish may be 
caught with the hand. At the time of which I write the 
1.-4 
