RECONNAISSANCE IN CENTRAL TURKESTAN. 
179 
areas which constitute most of the northern slope of the Alai range the old pene- 
plain is often well preserv^ed and the valleys are ver\' young in aspect (fig. 129). 
Some of the rivers flow in magnificent canyons; that of the Ak Bura, which 
reaches the plain at Osh, is 1,000 to 2,000 feet deep, and so narrow at the bottom 
that the river runs between walls of solid rock in many places and the trail has 
to clamber on the side walls on a scaffolding of logs filled with stones (fig. 130). 
The crest of the range resembles, the ridges of the Tian Shan plateau. In the 
near view, where one looks upward from a valley, the country seems in the highest 
degree rugged and deeply dissected, but in the large view from a lofty or distant 
Fig. 129. — Gorge of the Ispalran in its lower portion, where it begins to widen as it flows northward 
(rom the Alai Mountains to the Fergana Basin. The valley is filled with gravel, in which the 
stream has cut terraces. 
station it is seen that the mountain crest is very even and that there are large areas 
where erosion has as yet accomplished but little in dissecting an old surface of 
moderate relief. 
THE ALAI VALBEY. 
South of the Alai range lies the Alai Valley, the largest of the minor basins. 
It seems to be due in part to the warping since the time of the peneplain, but nnich 
of its depth is due to Quaternary erosion working on soft Tertiary strata which had 
previously been faulted down, as in the case of the smaller basins. The drainage 
is strictly consequent to all appearances. The master stream, the Kuzzil Su,* nms 
♦The name Kuzzil Su or Red River recurs continually in countries where Turkish languages are 
spoken. At the moment of writing, I recall seven Kuzzil Sus which I have visited during the 
journey described in this paper. 
