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

92 NOTES ON INDIYIDUAL MAl' SIIISETS [Chap. IV
height 2,391 for the western etlge clC that To tho north of tho marshy depression (13,C.
basin, are derived from t.his Irvellil~g oper- 4) ill whir11 t,lle present bed of the river ends,
stiorl. The l~eifilit of 13f.rl1-togl1ral; (2,340), nre Itnve otlror branches, now dry, of an
obtnined as t,he lnenn of several obsrr\.:ttions, ancient. delta descending illto an earlier ternliwas
accepted as ciatu~n 11oirlt. '1'11t. record nal basin ; the lacustrine cliaracter of this
of levels, as s1101vn in Al)llt*ndix C, proves R is clearly market1 by its strings of Mesas. ?I
continuously descending slope from the an- I~n~netliatoly to tlro west of this basin,
cient lac~lstrine basin to tile dried-1111 Lop the ' Su-10-110 trouglr' is co~ltinued in the
sea bed. previously mentioned valley leadtng don111
A descriptive account ol' the ground from Bbsh-togllrak to the eastern bay of tlle
along - the caravan track, as seen on rny first
passage, is given in Bc.sr.rt CltAr~y, I. 111). 626
dried-up Lo11 sea bed. There is evidence
supporting 6Ite belief that tlrrougl~ this norqq.;
ii. 111). 1 qtl.. a1111 a s1t11111ar~ of its tllern basin the So-lo-110 drainage reached
cllaracteri~tic features in St,rc~~diir, ii. PI).
569 sqq.; ef. also Gc~qr. Josr~rnl, 191 6, slviii.
the ancient Lo]) sea nntil a recent geological
period ': It is probable also that perco-
1lp. 129 q. The topography of the ground latiorr froln it, even witlrin historical times,
sonth of the So-lo-110, along the ;~ncie~~t Irelpetl to facilitate the use of the Bkh-
Chinese border line or Li~t~rs (C,D.-I), ancl of tngllrak valley for t.11e early Chinese route
that on its western flank n11ich the (e~minal to~vards Lou-Ian. It certainly accounts for
mars11 basin of the So-10-110 served to protect the desert vegetation t,o be found today in
(C.4), has been touchecl upon pnssig~/ iu the this valley, notwithstanding the utter baraccount
given of my fruitful arch;eological renness of the Kurulc-tsgh on one side of it,
esplo~at~ot~s on this Linles portiot~, In Besert and of the Iri~lt I lclges of drift-sand on the
Cafhcry, ii. pp. 92-158. Thc l~llysiral cha- other.
racter and l~istorical topogral)lty of the Along the Su-lo-110 course and the line
along the several sectiuus of the of spring-fed marshes which accompany it,
Limes has heen discussed in the detailed such vegetation is abundant. But the conrecord
of those erltlorntions, in Sel.i~/rlia, ii. figuration of the gronnd preclodes irrigation,
Chapters XYII-XIX; see io particolar pp. 633 and the evidence of the plentiful documents
sqq., 656 sq., 662 sqq., 693 sqq., 705 sqq. recovered from the rnined match-stations of
There frequent reference has been also made the Limes makes it certain that already in
to the evidence furnislled by the ancient ancient tinies no cultivation existed along
reniains and records regarding the physical this desolate border-line.
condit,ions, water levels, etc., prevailing here Correcliog~s. A. 4. R. B. LB1 Siogh's
during the first centuries before and after Camps 50 and 51 of 1913 should be shown
Christ. eirc. 6 miles S.W. of Kosh-kucluk and circ.
Though limited in extent and fairly 7 miles S.W. of Ya~itak-kitduk, respectively.
uniform in cl~aracter, the sorveyed area of Against Camp 50 of 1913 sl~ould-be added
this sheet possesses special geographical the height 2,500.
interest. It comprises the wide trough of 0. 4.. The height of Togllrak-bulak
the terminal course of the Su-lo-110, separating
the southernmost Kuruk-tigh from the
gravel glacis of the easternmost Altin-tiigh.
should be corl.ected into 2,837 (see Appendix
B) .
Aatrononlically obserrecl lalitlrtlrs.
1906-08. BBsh-toghrak, Camp 152 (at well; B. 4) ... 40° 29' 41"
Toghrak-bolak, Camp 164 (on left bank of river bed ; C. 4.) 40° 19' 35"
lo' It muat, however, be noted that the mercnrlnl
baromeler ohserration taken in 1913 indicntrd for
Birh.toghrak n height of 2,010. ft. only; cf. belorv
Appendix B.
Exactly correspood~ng strings of Mesw are
foond at the end of the nnrros plntean-tongues jot-
ting out into the actnal terminal bnein of the So-lo-ho
(0. 4). as correctly ahown in the ' Detailed Mnp of
the ancient Chinese Limes ', 3 miles :o 1 inch, in I'lnn
33 of Rerindin. vol. iii.
I regret. thnt the representntion of this fentore,
chnractcrifitic nlso of orher laclistrine bnsios nlong the
Su-lo-bo, e. g., the Kborn-n6r and thc lagoons below
it (Sheet No. 38. A. 4), has been omitted in the smnll-
scale mnp. The origin of tbesc Means bas been ex-
plnined in Serindia, ii. pp. 576, 689, 642.
See Seril~dia, ii. pp. 561 sq.