1923%20Memoir%20on%20Maps%20of%20Chinese%20Turkistan%20by%20Stein%20s

S k NOTES ON 1NDIVIDIJAL MAP SIIISETS [Chap. IV
Turftin hsin \vit.l~ special interest, as briefly
mentioned rbove (11. 48) is t.he grcet. dept,l~
blo\r sea-lrvel to \vhich it. descends in its
s~nall scale noa at of the Idlysical features
ehaetctc.ristic of the different zones of tho
Tiri~n basin 'l'hns below the rnggcd
lowest l~ortio~l arol~nd t,he Aidin-kiil marsh. T'ien-shall ~nain range in the north, rising
It nay 11e11ee be specially noted t.l~at the with part of its crest above the snowheights
or dcpreszions recordetl in the map
for t,he following ],laces are deriv1.d from
line, 7ve find a wide and otterly barren
pave1 qlac~s (B-D. 2). The underground
observatious m:;cIc with a mercurial barometer: drainasc, ca11g11t by means of kdr?:cs at its
Kara-khoja, Ca111p 2-1.2 (house of BGg, foot and at that of a low but ruggeil outer
near N.E. corner of rnined to\vu; C. 3),
- 110 ft.
hill-range \vl~ich traverses the basin fro111
east to west, s11pl)lies most of the irrig,ztioa
Kara-lthbja, Camp 2-4: (in Bizir ; C. Y), for the richly cultivatetl tracts scattered
-110 ft.
north and south of that transverse hill-range.
YE^-mahalla, Camp 2 13 (house of Rus- Ret~veen and below these oases estentls
sian Ak-sakll ; C. 3), 250 ft.
a belt of serob-co\crt~l and for the most part
Sai-kircz, Depl~ar, Camp 27.-1 (D. Y), sandy ground right down to the loug-stretch-
- 630 ft. ed narrow lake-bed, ~nostly dry and salt-
Tuz-kan, Camp 276 (near east end of encrusted, whicl~ occ~~pirs the deepest part
dry lake-shore; D. Y), -940 ft. of the basin. This descends near the eastern
Plane-table station, N.W. of Camp 276 end of the lake-bed to a level close on 1000
(on dry lake-shore; D. 3),-980 ft. feet below sea-level. To the east of these
Camp 277, (on edge of gravel Sai; rises a dune-covered expanse, the Kum-tigl~,
C. 3),-860 ft. like a miniature Taltlamaltdn. In the soutl~
Firing S.W. of Camp 277 (on gravel there lies the a~cent, over a gravel glacis and
Sai; C. 3),-720 ft. a s~~ccessiou of avid plateaus, to the northel n-
Camp 2'79, N. of Bejfin-tura (by bed most of the Kurok-tsgll ranges.
of dry stream ; C. S), - 780 ft. The nortl~ern end of the sheet shows the
BEjin-tnra, Camp 282 (foot of ruiued
tower; C. 3), - 910 ft.
slopes of the T'ien-sllan which descend,
forest-clotlled at. elevations from about 6000
Turfin, Yangi-shahr, Camp 280 (C. 3),
- 80 ft.
to 9000 feet and receiving ample water,
towards the plateaus and open plains of
The approximate datum-line and con- Dzungaria. Extensive cultivation dependent
tours belom sea-level, at approsinlate inter- on raiofall only is found ou these northern
vals of 2.50 feet, have been slromn by broken slopes, evidence of the great clinlatic divide
lines of greyish-green. formed by the T'ien-sl~an range.
Other heights shown in this sheet are The historical importance of the Turfiin
mostly derived from aueroid observations, depression, especially during the early Tnrcheeked
in the case of those taken in 1914- kish (Uigur) domination, is attested by a
15 by R. B. Lil Singh. with reference to large number of ruins wit11111 or close to
readings at mercurial barometer stations. the cultivated tracts. For a brief account of
The assumed snow-line was tixed at a the visits paid to these in 1907, see Ucsert
level of 12,500 feet with regard to the condi- Cufhuy, ii. pp. 353 sqq.; Scritjdia, iii. pp.
tions observed on crossing the pass above 1169 sqq. A short snmmary of my pro-
Pa-no-p'a (R.l) on October 23, 1914. longed labours iu the district dnring 191.3.-
As ahead7 observed above in Chap. I 15 is given in Gzogvnpi. .losr~~n/, 1916, xlviii.
(11. 35) the Turfan basin reproduces on a
AstronomicalZy observed lutittrdes.
pp. 202 sqq.
1906-08. Chong-hasssr, Camp 267 (north of central keep of rl~ined fort; D. 3) -1.2' 39' 7"
Turfin, Yangi-shahr, Camp ?74 (S.E. quarter of Chinese tow11 ; C. 3)
1913-18. KII-ch'Cng-tzu (Guchen), Camp 235 (N6gai trader's house iu N.E.
-1.2' 55' 39"
quarter of city ; 28. C. 1) ... ... ... ... .~.-J.O 2' 3"
Kara-khcja, Camp 212 (Ziwat B6g's house, N.E. of ruined town ;
C. 3) ... ... ... ... ... 42' 51' 13"
Yir-mahalla, Turfin, Camp 243 (Russian Ak-sakil's house, 14
miles N.W. of K6ua-shahr ; C. 3) ... ... ... 42' 57' 59"