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

6 HISTORY OF SURVEYS [Chap. I
The height values ascertained for t,l~em are subject to minor adjnstment conseqllent
upon the corrections n.llic11 the geodet,ic work effected by the Survey of
India in 1912-13 on the Tlghdam-bisll 1'Bmir has involved for t,he
t,rian#ulated poir~lr of the Plimir Honlldal:). (:o~nmission. 1l11t. the
results of Hai Sahib Ram Singll's t.riangnlation leave no doubt. that, the Kongur (or Sl~i~vakte)
prtion of tile range rises in at. least one peak ( Kongor-dcbr I, height 25,14.6 feet. ) considerably
above the grt,:it s~lo\\y tlo~ne of Al~lz-tii~l~-:~tli ( 24.,321 feet, ). 'I'he plloto-tl~eotlolite panoramas
taken by me around Lit,tle lcara-knl served for the preparotio~l of a tletailetl n ~ of p t,he
ground bet\vcen that range airtl the ltnssian Pimirs, by Lient. 1" El;. 'l'illard, H. K., on the
scale of 4. miles to 1 i~~ch. V recent co~npntation of heights, hy Major 13. 0. Wheeler,
M. C., It. E., based U~IOII the same panoramas, lras fully confirmed t,he greater elevation of
Peak Kongnr-debe I, \vhicl~ l~ence may no\\, be accepted as the c~~lminnting Ileiglit north of
the Hinduknsh and liimftlapz, not merely in tl~c l'imir region, but also in Asin. generally.
The narrow valley of the Gez or Tamin-yir river d~ainiila tl~e western ant1 northern
alolws of the ICOII~II~ rang=, and the route follo\\~etl in the plain north-
Survey of (fez rotate. c.nst,wards as far as Kftrllgar could Le clleclied by trian~ulation. 7
Several l~iali peaks previonsly lised from the Little Icara-lcn1 aicie could
be observed bv tlreotlr,lite both at 1'Bshmalil;, near the Gez river's tleloorh~~re from the
mountains, alrd at Kiisllgar \vllere a ~woluugetl halt ~~crc>zitatecl 113. 111). ~)rel,arations for il~e
minter's work fortunately gave a cliance of favourable atmosplieric conditions to\valds the
close of August. As evidence of the very careful \\.ark done by H S. Ilam Singh both on
the plane-table and in triany~lation, 1 tniy mention that the longitndc of ICashgar as shomn
by tile former ( 76' 1' ON ) differed by lcss than two ~ninntes from the value n~hich wireless
obsyvation on Sir k'. De k'iliplii's espcdition in 191-1, tletermined ( 7b0 59' G.64"), while tl~e
triangulation result ( 75' 59' 15" ) as colnp~~te~l from OII~ Iiongr~r-debe Peak I approaclles
this final determination still more closely. "
At the beginning of September \ve left Kashgar first for the examination of some
ruined sttes north-east\\ar near the outermost foothills of the T'ien-
~~~hgar-Kho~an ronte, shan, and then for the journey which was to take us to Khotan in tl~e
sootll-easf, the main base for rnx intended esplorations. "or the
first portion of this journey I was able to avoid the well-known high road by rejoining -
Rim Singh in the large and fertile tract of Khiln-arilr and thence by making our way to
the south eicr Orclan~-p~dshii~. I" BJ- the visit. to this famons pilgrin~age place we gained
acquaintance wit11 the westernmost part of that great belt of absolutely harren drift-hand
desert known as the Taklamakin which extends tllrougllont the nlllole length of the l'irin~
basin as far east as tile Lop-ni,r depression. From Kizil nre nrere obliged to follow the
caravan route to Khotan which, escept where it passes throogli the rich district of Yirkand
and the adjoining oasis of Karghalik, keeps close to tile southern edge of the done-covered
Talilamakin. 'I Apart from rapid excursions in the last named oasis and visits to ruined sites
near this ancient highway survey work l~ad to be contined to tile vicinity of the actual route line. 12
Within a few days of our arrival at Khotan, October 13th, however, we set out for a
month's interesting geographical work in t.he mountains to the south, a
K'nu-lnn IsnEe
hhutan.
or ti on of the K'un-lun range hitherto practically unsorveyed. Five
long marches from the deboochure of the Yurung-kish river led over a
succession of high spurs furnishing escellent plane-table stations. Then the deep-cut valley
Bee Map of IllurfCgh-at8 and Lakr Little liorakulpreparrd
by iiieuf. F. B. Tillard, R. E.. from photoiheudolite
auruq of n% A. Stein. Ph. D.. Survey of India
O5cea. Calc~~tto. 1903.
For details on tl~is peak and on other points of
orographic intereat, cf. Notes on bl~eet No. 2.
7 For a description of thc route, cf. Rui~s of
Khotsn. pp. 99 sqq.
The position ascertained for Kisl~gsr refers in
rcb caar to the ground of the British Consolate
General (Cl~inibigh) which served as 'camp ' for b0t.h
ollr expedirions as well Rs for tllat of Captain Deasy.
Tile !at,ter3s longitude determinat~on for the same prilbt
was 76' 1' 2". De Filippi's station is s~tuated in tile
old Mul~nn~mndnn cemetery between the British an.1
(former) Hnssian Consnlates.
See Ruins of Xhofan, pp. 130 sqq.
lo See ihid. pp. 142 sqq.; Sheet No. 5.
l1 See idid. pp. 148 sqq.
Cf. idid. pp. 167 sqq.; Sheets Nos. 6. 9.