124 
EXPLORATIONS IN TURKESTAN. 
broad gray steppes of the northern half of Ferj^ana, patched with a mnltitude of 
green oases, and sharply bounded on the south bj- the high, grassy slopes of the 
Alai range foothills. (See figs. 8i and 82.) 
It had been planned that the reconnaissance trip should extend to Andizhan, at 
the end of the Trans-Caspian railroad. On June 23 we had left Tashkent, and on 
the 24th our car was running along the low region just south of the Syr Darj-a. 
There the oases were more frequent than farther west, and the landscape corre- 
spondingly cheerfid. We crossed long stretches of barren, gravelly steppes, but 
were rarely out of sight of picturesque villages and patches of cultivated land, 
with their hedges of tall, shaft-like poplars agaiiLst the sky. 
It was decided to follow the ancient Taldic route as far as the core of the 
Alai range. We drove from Andizhan to Osh, the great starting point for caravans. 
Fig. 82. — Map of the Pamir, taken from Sven Hedin's Map. 
There it was decided to go to Lake Kara Kul, on the Pamir. Two or three flays 
were taken in making the preparations necessary for so extended an expedition, 
and it was the last day of Juue when our caravan left Osh for the mountains. We 
were to follow the old route up to the Taldic pass across the Alai Valley, up a stream 
to Kizil-Art pass, and thence to Kara Kul. 
From the lower plains of Fergana (1,200 feet) to the foothills of the Alai 
range (4,000 feet), there is a gradual ascent and nonnal progressive increase of 
natural vegetation. Even at Osh we had begun to miss the striking desert conditions 
of the regions below, and at Gulcha the hills were covered with rich green grass, 
small streams rising among them. From Takka pass there was a splendid view 
over a broad gulf of these green hills and \-alleys, ending in the snow-clad peaks 
of the Alai, 40 miles to the south. There were kibitkas (Kirghiz felt tents) here 
and there on the slopes, and by them herds and flocks. The Kirghiz winter in 
