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

HISTO11.I' 01: SI'R\'I~:TS [Chap. 1
Before, Ilowever, setting out for t,llis it. was im~erative to give ol~r Irard-tried camels
a brief rest with water ant1 grazing at the salt springs of Altmish-bulak.
Nove tOX't~ish-bll'nk Lcl Siugll llad jast safely arrived :rt the Loo-Ian site after his survey
rnlt spr~ng*.
of tl~e Burnk-daryti, ant1 wit11 Ililn I proceeded by a new route to
tllose at the foot of the Kurak-tftgll northward, while Iabonrers and antiqnes were
Eelltbrck toour depot at hfirin. 2' After reple~lishing onr ice-supl)ly and takillg an indispensable
store of fuel we left. Altmish-bulak on February 25 for our respective tasks. LB1 Sing11
was to survey t,l~e extreme nortll-eastern extensio~~ of the great. salt-encrusted basin once
filled bp the Lop sea and southernnlost llill ranges of the Kuruk-trig11 overloolting them.
I lllyself wished to trace tile ancient, Chinese route fron~ the eastern edge of the once habitable
Lou-Ian area right through to the point, n here it w;is likely to lrave diverged from the
line still followed by tile desert, track fro111 T~u1-1l11ang along the ~outi~ern shore of file
dried-op sea.
It was a task of special geogral~llical and I~istoriral interest but beset also by serious
ph!.sical ditticulties and risks ; for on tlre grotuld to be crossed no rater
for
Chinese route from conld be expected-over lllost of it not even fuel-before striking tlre
to T'l"~hl'nng. Tun-l~oan,rr - caravan track near the eastern extremity of the ancient sea
bed, a matter of some ten days of hard marching. Apart from the serious risk of physical
obstacles wl1ic11 \roulcI cause delay and exhaust our liarcl-tried camels, tliere was the problem of
striking the line of the ancient route and of tracking it thro~lgh a \vilclerness devoid of all
resources since the damn of l~istorical times. I Ira~e related else\vhere how hints derived from
topograpl~ical and archrt?ological observations, combined wit11 fortunate finds of relics left
behind by the aucieut traftic of centuries, helped to guide me and to solve the problem, 2i Here
the briefest explanation of the route, as now she\\ a on the map, mill suffice.
After regaining across difficult wind-eroded ground the vicinity of the terminal poist
(Z'appni abo~e mentioned at Camp c, we moved for two long marches to
Crossing of salt-encrusted
the north-east until we strucl; the belt of salt-encrusted erosion terraces
Lop sea bed,
which the early Chinese accorunts of this dreaded 'northenl road' knew
as the 'White Dragon Afouncls'. 20 Then on a very trying march we crossed to the south-east
the dried-up sea-bottom with its crumpled-up crust of hard salt, fortonatelp at the very point
where it was narrowest. Thence continuing over easier grouud to the south along the ancient
sea shore, we reached three days later its extreme eastern extension in the shape of a great bay
overlooked from tlie north by a Ion. offshoot of the southern~~~ost, Knruk-tBg11.
For two more days we skirted this bay eastwards under the steep cliffs of its sl~oreliue,
and then crossed its salt-encrusted expanse, here still sholving patches
Tun-hnang caravan of actual salt bog. After a long day's march on AIarch 6 we finally
track gainod.
reached the wells of Kum-kudak, on the Tun-huang caravan track. 27
Here I found Lil Sing11 just arrived after having duly sur~eyed tlie wide northernmost
bight of the dried-up sea and of the straggling low ranges fultlrer to the east. In conjunction
with the work pluckily done a year later by Afriz-gul along the western shore our
'circumnavigation ' of the ancient Lop sea was thus snccessfully achieved.
After the timely arrival of our heavy baggage from Afirio a day later, we were able
to turn once more northwards across tlre eastern baj- and in separate
Dy:t ~ ~ l ~ ~ parties ~ ; ~ to Osurvey f in detail the ground close to the foot of the Kuruktag11
where the early Chinese route to Lou-Ian had passed. At BEshtoghrak,
near the eastern end of the great desert valley leading down towards the Lop sea
basin, I picked up Surveyor M~thammad Yakfib who had meanwhile carried with praiseworthy
perseverence a line of levels, carefully observed with a Zeiss instrument,, all the way
up from the bottom of the bay north of Kum-koduk to tlle curious Mesa-filled basin east of
2' See Sheet No. 29. D. 3. salt.contecl ' Tirdnngs', os distinct from Mesas, wna
96 Cf. Q. J., xlviii. pp. 126 6qq.; Qeogi.aphica1 first reached is marked by the entry referring to an
Review, is. pp. 26 sqq. important find of relics of ancient trnffic, circ. 6 milee
28 see Sheet No. 32, A, B. 3, for the route from E. of C. ci.
Camp xcix to Cnmp cii. The point where the belt of 27 See Sheet No. 32. B. 3, C. 3,4, D. 4.