Untitled

THE PROVINCE OF KHACHI LACUSTRINE SYSTEM. 1!)
exceed that of ordinary routes in highland regions. According to the natives of
Khotan, it would even be possible to cross the Kuen-lun in a carriage. One of
Montgomerie's Hindu surveyors easily reached the western Tibetan plateau by
following the Kiria valley to an altitude of over 16,000 feet. The plateau is
approached by other passes from the east, for the Zimgarians have frequently
Fig.
4. UPPER KAHA-KASH VALLEY.
invaded Til>ct by crossing the steppes and deserts stretching south of the Lob-nor.
The Mongolian pilgrims follow this route on their way to Lassa.
THE PROVINCE OK KHACHI LACI'STIUM: SVSTKM.
The North Tibetan tableland, mostly inhabited or visited only by
nomad tribes,
still remains the least-known upland region in the Chinese Empire. The Tibetans
themselves are acquainted only with the southern districts of this bleak and storm-
swept land, roamed over by Mongolian and Tatar nomads, who choose for their
camping grounds the sang, or sheltered pastures resembling the pamirs of the