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

62 THE RII:(:IONS SURVISYED [Chap. It
SECTION VI1.-THF: PEI-SH AN AND THE EASTERXMOST T'IEN-SHAN
l'here st,ill rernairl \vitlrin t.he linlits of our I11Bl)S two distinct rezions to be noticed.
Both are of very great 'xtcnt, ant1 in both tlie grourrd :rctually surveyetl along a couple of
route lines is ilrces~arily IilniteJ. Ncvrrtlielcss s11c11 is the nnifori~~ity of physical features
prevailing ~villiin each that. tlrc! t,ol~ograpliy of even ;I restricted area may prove very
The first of tlrese regions is the gre:lt desert are3 c.nlirely orenpied by the barren
ra11ges and plntclatls of t,lie Yei-sha~r (the ' Nort.ller11 Moul~fail~s'). It
nercrt nrcn of
I'~,i.*b:in. ma! be tlcscribetl as estt~ndiii~ \vest\vartls from the 13tsiri-gal course to
about. longitude YaO where it pl.obal~ly joins \\.rtll, or nrergcs in, the
fioruk-ts~h. In tlre north it. is bourttltd by the slol~es of the easte~nmost T'icn-slian and its
off~hoots and in tlre south bj tlie lina-hni-tzu and btr-lo-lro bariris.
Oor surveys throt~gh it. la.!. alolrg t\vo lincs, one the well-knolvn caravan track connect.
Rontrs through
I'ci-shntn.
inz An-hsi nit,li FIPmi, and tlie other a route, r rev ion sly uncxl~lored,
\vliich took us fronl Mao.mei to east. of tlie Karlik-tBgh. The record
of tlrese surveIs in Slietkts Nos. 37, 36, '1.0, '12 and that of other tracks
followed by Russian and Gern~aii travellers between H;in~i and So-cliou show that this huse
area is traversed by a series of niucli-decaxed hill ranges, the axis of all trending roughly in
tlre direction from E.N.E. to W.S.Ttr. Ret\\.een tlicm ~11read broad detritus-covereil plateaus
where ill-detii~ed del)ressions, alternating with the outcrol~s of alniost completely smotllered
rocky ridges, n~arl; the fyrmer existence of side spurs \vitlr their corresponding valleys.
The scanty drainage observrcl along our eastern route in dry beds and sliallvw troushs, . .
up to about latitade 4d0, ~eemed to trnd ton.ards the Etsin-gol, nrllile
T,onC,, l,et,\.een
T.~r~t.shn~~ aud along the An-hsi-llirni trakk the direction alq)eared to lie to the west
Pel->itall.
or south-west. North of latitude 42O both routes descend into a deep
and well-marked trough which seems to separate tlie P2i-shan formation from the gravel
$cis of the easternmost T'ien-slian. Whatever d~ainage t1:is big depression carries on tile
rare occasions of floods must find its way into some, as yet unexplored, basin in the desert
further west. '
The general bearing and character of the Pei-shan ranges, nowhere apl~arently much
esceediug 8,000 feet in height, seerrls to point to a close morphological
Morpho'ogy Of connection with the Kuruk-ti:h system. But t.his can only be decided
Ye'-sl~au.
by expert geological examination. Scanty wells or springs found at
intervals in the depressions render tlie crossi~rg of this stony ' Gobi ' practicable for small
*arties at one time, and near them a very limited amount of grazing on scrub or reeds is
ordinarily to be found. But neither nomadic occupation nor large migrat,ions were ever
possible here during the historical ~eriod.
To the north of the Pei-shan extends the easternmost T'ien-shan, the second of the
regions referred to at the head of this section. As far as our surveys
T,i!r::::"'",","gee are concerned, it may be said to extend from above the Turfiln basin
to about longitade 95' SO', if not further. It maint,ains througllout
the general direction from west to east and ultimately dies away in the ' Gobi ' of the southern
Altai. Our survey of it was confined practically to the main range and to some yortions of
the neinhbouring ground in the sooth. Along the whole length, considerably more than 300
three sections of the main range rise to heights about 13,000 feet and carry perpetual
Seo for tl~ese tile map attncbed to Professor
Fllttel.er's careful paper, Geographisrhe Skizze der
spring of Chin-Crh-ch'iiao, Sheet No. 37. P. 4, at about
4,020 feet above sea-'eve .
WGtr (iobi, I'eter~lla~an's Mittheilnngen, Irgaoznngsheft
No. 139.
The nsfii~med brfin ma? nccoont for tile lalie
obtained
the well of Yeu-tun. Sheet No. 37. A. 4, at nn elcva- fritm native ioformation ; this lake hns uever been
tiom of about l,i30 feet; our enstern route near the located.
'To!i ' which 16 shown by Russian nlnpf or) o s~~pposed
2 The An-bsi-Himi route crosses the troagh near rol#te frnm llimi to To':-iuhng, ~~ppa~entl!-