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

44 TI-IE REG LONS SIIHVESEI) [Chap. 11,
easier to indicate certaiu topogrepl~ical
distinctions deserving of notice. But both share the essential feature of containing
whatever gound within the Tirim hasir) is capable of permanent cultivation under
existing conditions.
bin froln tile "lie in the south it is inainly because it is t1111s
TIlr cultivable are:, is considr~ably greater within the western and nort11er11 belts.
This may be taken as extending in a big arc from Yfirkand and Kash-
'vrrtrrt' 'lorthertl gar to Korla antl the tract inl~x~ediately south of it. It contains the
belt of O.Se6.
far larger number of important oases, such as Yirhand, KRshgar, Ak-su,
Kucll;~, and owing to them and to the short distances at which smaller ones are atrung out
between them, the route pasring t,lrrough t,llis belt. of cultivable ground has from the earliest
Ilistoric:~l t,imes to the present. day been the chief line of co~nnlunicaiion and trade within the
'ririnl basin. These advantages for permanent occupation and traUic result mainly from tho
fact that irrigation-that inJispeosable conclition of all cultivat,io~l in this basin-is here greatly
facilihtecl by the volume and uanlber of the rivers as well as by pl~ysical Seat,~tres of tlre
grot~nd which favour full use of their irrigation resonrccs.
Among such features may be mentioned t.l~e absence or conll~arative ~larrowness of
barren gl-avel stretches at the foot of tlre outer Iliils, which allows
Po~~tiott of cuIt.iv~ted ct11tivat.io11 to be started from the very debouchure of the rivers; also the
aWlhE.
protection \vhich the Ykrliand river or 'rdrini with its broad riverine
jur~gle belt affords front t,he moving sands of tl~e llaklamak;in. Ilence we find in the case of
the larger oases cultivation extending for considerable distances aloug the beds of 611e rivers. a
Since all of t,l~ese reach the Tirim aud 011 their lower courses command extensive areas inundated
during tlood times, grazing grounds adequate for the needs of the oases are also
available. On the other hand the map show?; a complete absence of cultivated areas of any
size &Ion= the Thrim itself after the river has passed the northern edge of the Yurkand
district. This striking fact is explained by the great difliculties wllicl~ the very slight fall in
the river's bed and the consequent constant shifts of its course here oppose to the construct,ion
and maintenance of irrigation canals of any size.
With the nort!lern belt of oases may conveniently be rnentioned also the subsidiary
basin of Kara-shahr which adjoins the extreme north-eastern corner of the
Ki~ra-sllulrr basin. T~rim basin proper. " Thoug11 draining into the latter by the Konchedaryi,
it sl~o~vs characteristic geographical features of its own. It is
divided from the plains of the Tirim by the mesternmost hill-range of the Kuruk-tsgh which
encircles it on the south, and a considerable portion of its area is occupied by the large freshwater
lake of the Baghrash-kiil. This gathers the waters brought donzn by the Kara-shahr
river from high plateaus of the Central T'ien-shan and, acting as a big natural reservoir,
discharges them with an almost constant volume through the defile above Korla. An
abundant water supply and an apparently less arid climate assure to Ka~a-shalrr chances of
extensive cultivation, and the historical importance of the territory shows that in antiquity
these were adequately ut,ilized. Their present neglect seems to be largely due to the population
containing a considerable element of semi-nomadic Mongol herdsmen. The latter's
presence alone serves to illustrate the difference in climatic contiitions between the Karashahr
district antl the rest of the Tcrim basin. '
This rlistinction is supported also by evidence
derived from the historical geography of the Titrim
basin. Tho detailed descriptions given of it by the
early Chinese lliatorical records always separate the
territories sitnated along tl~e ' Northern Rond ', i. r.
those at the south foot of the T'ien-shall, from thofie
on the 'soothe~n Iioad' which passed throogh Chnrkblik
and Kbotan. In this as in many other notices
of those records relaling to Central Asia the keen
topographical sense of the Chinese clearly reflects
itself.
It is significant that though So.rhii, i. r. Yirkand,
is duly indicated n6 the point through which passed
the 'Southern Hoad' to the Pimire and beyond.
yet this territory ia always described in its proper
geographical nexus. dong with Ktiahgnr; see Wylie,
'Notes on the il'estern liegions', Jcureal of (he An-
thrupol. Inrlifule, x. p. 21, 47 sq.; Chnvanues, 2"oung-
pao, 1907. pp. 170. 196 sqq.
See Sheets Nn. 2. D.2; 5. A, H.2; 7. D. 2,s;
12.A.3; 17.A.l.U,C.1,2.
See Sheets KO. 20.D.4; 24. A-D.4; 26. A-0.1.
' Cf. Serindia, iii. pp. 1179 sq., repercling the
limited cultirstion of Kara.abahr and its causes.