LAKE KARA-KUL 
163 
were nearly three inches of hard snow on the ice, which 
prevented the horses from slipping. How different all 
this was from the discouraging accounts given me in 
West Turkestan. There they told me, that Kara-kul 
was never free from snow-hurricanes, that every flake 
of snow which fell was instantly swept away, and that 
I might look to have the entire caravan blown bodily 
across the glassy surface of the lake. Besides all this, 
they assured me I should have to put up a tent and 
hew my sounding-hole inside it ; instead of which we 
did the work in the open air and in bright sunshine. 
During the course of the day we rode across the lake 
from the north side to the south, making four other holes 
on the way. 
The results of the soundings are embodied in the 
subjoined table ; the Roman numerals indicating the 
bore-hole, the first column the depth of the lake in feet, 
the second and third the temperature at the bottom of 
the lake on the F'ahrenheit and Centigrade scales re- 
.spectively, and the fourth the thickness of the ice. 
Eastern Basin. 
Ft. 
In. 
Fahr, 
I. 
41 
3 ■ 
34°2 
II. 
42 
9 • 
34°9 
HI. 
62 
10 
35‘’2 
Western 
IV. 
726 
5 
38 H 
V. 
748 
5 ■ 
38 B 
VI. 
756 
3 
38°3 
VII. 
256 
3 • 
3S“8 
C. rt. In, 
i“2 ... 2 Ilf 
i°6 ... 3 Sf 
i'8 ... 2 6 
Basin. 
3“4 ••• I 7 
3°5 I 6 
3°5 I 4-3- 
2°I ... I 
These figures show that the eastern basin is shallow ; 
whilst the western is very deep. A glance at the map, 
or better still at the lake itself, suggests that the contour 
of the lake bottom and its shores should be what the 
actual measurements proved it to be. The eastern basin 
is bordered by a tract of steppe-land, which slopes gently 
down towards its shore. The western basin is overhung 
by high, steep mountains. The lake is fed by severa 
