OVER THE KWEN-LUN PASSES 947 
through a gateway less than fifty yards wide. But im- 
mediately after it emerged, it spread itself out in a broad 
channel which it had carved through the conglomerates, 
and was joined from the right by the Yakka-chapp, at that 
season a mere dry ravine with a stony bottom. Like those 
of the Mitt, its sides were almost vertical, and flung back 
the rattle of the caravan with a sharp echo. By means of 
this ravine we ascended to a series of loess hills, soft in 
outline and overgrown with grass. Then the track swung 
off to the south-east, towards the entrance of a transverse 
valley, traversed by a little brook on its way down to the 
plain. The district was called Dalai-kurgan, and was in- 
habited by eighteen families of Taghliks (Mountaineers), 
who owned amongst them some 6000 sheep. They lived 
in small huts partly excavated out of the loess terraces. 
We encamped on the left bank of the stream, in the 
entrance to the valley, and let all our animals run free 
on the luxuriant grass. 
Immediately south of us towered up the mighty mountain 
chain which the Chinese call Kwen-lun (Kuen-lun) ; the 
Taghliks however had no general name for it. 1 he 
secondary range, which was pierced by the Dalai-kurgan 
stream, was called the Tokkuz-davan (the Nine Passes) 
east of the Kara-muran ; though at Dalai-kurgan itself 
that name was not in use. The Taghliks maintained 
there was only one pass giving access to the high plateau 
of Tibet, namely the pass of Chokkalik ; but they would 
not undertake to say that we could get through with our 
camels. I decided therefore to reconnoitre the pass before 
sending on the whole of the caravan. 
Accordingly on August ist, accompanied by Fong Shi, 
Islam Akhun, Roslakh, and two Taghliks, I rode up the 
valley of the Dalai-kurgan to the pass of the same name 
(14,330 feet in altitude), and on the following day pushed 
on eastwards to the principal pass (16,180 feet). Thence 
I obtained a magnificent view of the ocean of tumbling 
mountain-peaks. The ascent was certainly steep , still we 
thought the camels could manage it, But the descent on 
the other side was very much worse, owing to the sharp 
