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

Sec. ii.] REL'RESENTATION OY PHY SICATJ UE'I'AILS 69
geoloaical origin ant1 up~~ally fount1 in ancient. lac~~ntri~re hanirrs, :i tliff~.rent wplnhol han been
usctl.
Sandy tracts s~~pr)ort.ing desert vc:gc*tation of' sonic kitrtl have irec~n tiircting~~ifihe(l from
bare drift-sa~~d l)y t,he use of a light yellow t.irrt. 'I'he c!haractc:r of the
Slt~l(ly I.I.~L(:~s wit11
vec.ct:~t.iorr.
vegetation fourrtl in such tracts has 11cer1 tnarkeil t)y ~el~aratc* synlliols
rc~11resc~ntitrg its ~)ritrcil,al forrnrj, 7.;~. rec.rIrj or low ~crrrb, wild
pol'lars (by f'nr tile rr~ust f'rc~c~rrc~lrl tre(s gro\vt11), alltl tanlaribks. \?ltt(-r(. the i~~r~-continlled
preserlcc of talirarisl; gro\~tIr has 11~11 to ~III* forn~:rtion of rc~g~rI;rr ' tamnrisIt-ro~ic~~' i. r. hiah
billocl;~ built 1111 by 1roIo1rge(l ~ VPIIIII~II:I~ i(ltr of ~nntl ;~rot~r,l
this c~haracteristic. l'rat.trrr of the grouutl 119s also trren market] hy a srecial symbol. T\')rerever
tlrcsc fornrs of desc~t vegct:ition xvel.e fount1 deacl, tl~rorrglro~rt or' for t,lre most part, the
res1)ective synibolr Ilavc Ilcvn z1ioa.n irr t)lark, illstead of in green, the col(111r tr~rd for livinz
t hc- 1.001 S. (-tc.. of t ilrtlaribk ~ I~I~~ICS,
r
Llrc , same symbols llare been trsetl also to mark patches of vegetation on otherwise hare
desert =tonntl of detritus. gravel t)r clay, anrl to indicate grazing in
Fyml~ole f ~ vccetntion. l mountain tracts I~arrcrr rlse~t here. " 111 mcrnntaine, ho\vever, like the
cc~ntral Nan-s11an n.llerc~ R moister c.linratc allows veeetation to zrow
1)racticnlly evcr~y\rlrere on the slo1,ea 1111 to tlrc ?;tro\v-line, onlv conifer i'o~.est or Irartic~llarly
rich grazing in tlie valleys has 1)cerr sl~eci:rlly slio\i.n.
It. is obvious that tlre 1i11 its I,c4,\veelr bare drift-san~l are;rs and sancly tracts with
vegetation arc often dificult to determine even alr~~rosimately. The Fame applies alao to the
limits between tire latter and gravel or clay desert with soub. M'herever s~ich limits could
be clearly obsrrved tlrey have been nrarlted t~y fine dottrd lines.
,, I Ire same ilevice has heeu used with articular care for the purrlose of indicatinq the
limits of cultivated groontl (shown green throughout) where observed
1,inlirs of
cultir,,ted zl.ound, at tlie time of survey. Sllecial interest attaches to this record of the
extent of cultivated ground in view of tlre comparatively frequent and
rapid changes to which cultivatiou throoghout Cllinese Tr~rltistin is subject owing to peculiar
physical and economic conditions. In this respect. a con~parison of the cultivation limits in
particular oases as recorded in the new maps wit.h those shown hy the surveys of the first or
second journey will prove distinctly instructive. 7
Such changes l~econie necessarily far more striliing wlrrre they can be ohsel.ved over a
considerable distance of time, and for this tlie l'zrim basin, especially
Chnnges of
, 111 its southern portion, ofrers plenty of typical evidence. The ancient
sites now found in utterly nraterless n.asks of tlie Talilamak%n and Lop
deserts, and the even more numerous remains of abandoned srttlements and otlrer ruins traced
in the sandy tracts adjoining still extant oases, all bear \vitness to soch changes of the culti-
vated areas within the historical period. The use of distinctive red colour for the various
symbols indicating ancient remains as n~ell as for tlre local names relating to them makes it
easy to gauge the extent of those changes by a glance at the map.
SEC'PION 111.-SYMBOLS AND LOCAL NAMES
Among the symbols and other cartographic entries in tlie map, most of those relating
to works of man conform t,o the system adopted by the Survey of India and do not stand in
For Yirdangs nnd Mesas, cf. aborc pp. 30.17, 7 Compare, e.17.. the cultivated are= of the oases
63; for arouod sliowing them in typicnl formations frorn Gima to Khotnn in tho map of 1900-01 with
see e.9. Sheet No. 32. I-D. 3. those shon.11 in Sheet No. 9. A. 1, 8-1,. 2;ortho.e irom
The insertion of these vegefatlon ~yrltbols Chira t.0 Keriya in Sheets Nos. 27. D.4; 32. A-C. 1 of
on snch ground 11as not been systematically made the 1006-08 maps with Sheet No. 14. B, C. 2, 3. D. 3; or
thronghoat (see e. g. Sheets 37, 40), descriptive en- Cbnrchan in Sheet Xo. 46. C. 4 of 1966-08 with
tries having often been used instead. Sheet No. 22. C. D. 4.