90 
THROUGH ASIA 
and shallow, and is filled with shoals and islets of sand , 
and only confines itself to one bed for short distances, 
and that when the water is lowest. 
About a mile below Utch-kurgan the Yanghi-arik, the 
largest irrigation canal that carries water to the rice- 
fields of the district of Namangan, branches off from the 
right bank of the river. At the same time the Naryn 
itself shows a tendency to break through and join 
the Yanghi-arik; which, if accomplished, would naturally 
prove very disastrous to the agriculturists in that fruitful 
region. To prevent this, the Russian Government in 1893 
built four dams in the river at right angles to the right 
bank, so as to force the water back to its proper channel. 
The highest dam up the stream was 141 ft. long, the lowest 
942 ft. ; the first three were 33 ft. broad, the fourth and 
lowest 20 ft. They were all constructed of piles, stones, 
and fascines. The work was done in two months by a 
Russian officer with 200 to 400 Sart workmen, and cost 
about 18,000 roubles (^1800). In the dead water below 
each dam large quantities of sand and mud quickly 
accumulated, in places to such a degree that it was 
possible to plant trees, with the view of imparting a 
greater power of resistance to the structure. This fact 
plainly shows that at this point the river manifests a strong 
tendency to trend to the right. 
On the way from Min-bulak to Margelan I observed 
in several places traces of former river-beds. The largest 
was the Sari-su, which flowed into the reed-grown marsh 
of the same name. At the time of my visit it was entirely 
frozen, a sheet of glittering ice. It is very probable that 
the continuation of the Musulman-kul arik, farther east, is 
an old bed of the Syr-daria. 
South of the Syr-daria, between the meridians of 
Kokand and Margelan, there is an unbroken string of 
marshy lakes — Atchi-kul, Dam-kul, and Sari-su. In the 
spring these are fed with water from the river through 
the old discarded river-beds ; the surplus water from the 
ariks (irrigation canals) of Andijan also flows into them. 
South of these marshy tracts stretches the desert. North 
