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

7s KOTI'S ON SI-1ISE'l' No. I!) [Chap. IV
when the s~rrvc! r alor~g the u~ou~~t.i~iris \vero
effectrd, IIII~ for ot11t~r ~C~COIIS, 11,) S:L~'C obserfound
near tlre present ends of those rivers
are ever t,l~rratened wit11 extinction on'ir~g
vations of the st~on.-li~~t~ \\.ere nvnil:~l)lo; the to t,l~e vagaries of the dying river-courscs.
adol>tior~ for it in tlris sl~ert. of :III :tlq)rosi- Sootl~\var~l of tl~esc stretches the vast
n~ate eo~~totct. of 17,500 fret is, tl~i~refore, glacis of pictlnlo~~t gravel or detrit~~s, some
conjectural.
tl~irty miles ant1 more in width and ntterly
Dearr~~>tivc accorrrrts oi' tllc. rontes of barren, except on its norther~i edge. There
1901 :111d II)O(i \vl~icll tool; me to :III~ Sl.oni tl~e subsoil water, absorbed Irigher up from
sand-buried sites of ancient ttar111i11:11 oase6 srnaller rivers, comes to light again in scanty
of the Niya and Endere rlvers (13. 1, 1). I), springs or supl~orts scrubby jungle wi~h
are given in Hulas qf'Kho/n~t, 1)p. 320 sqq., scattered wild poplar grontl~. The small
388 sqq.; Dezwt Calh~cy, i. l)p. %G(i sqq., Nip oasis is the only agricultural settlement
300 sqq. The important arcl~aeolo~icnl dis- to be fount1 in this zone, and it, too, owes its
coveries made there raised numeroos questions existence rnai~~l! to the ~leecls of the goldregarding
physical changes, mainly due to miners' camps at Sorghillr (B. 3) and elsedesiccation,
affecting the ground :~t those where along the foot of the mountains.
sites. These questions and tlie points relating These rise as an unbroken snowy ramto
the historical geography of this region in part as far east as the headwaters of the
general have been fully discussed in A?rcienf Tir-tungaz and Endere rivers, and form part
Kknfan, i. pp. 362 sqq., -135 sqq.; Seriildia, i. of thc northern main range of the K'un-lun.
pp. 211 sqq., 272 sqq., 286 sqq. For a brief Their valleys seem for the most part very
prelinlinary account of my thirtl visit to the narrow and barren, and cultivation is re-
Niya Site (the ancipnt Cliiitg-ckiielr of tlie stricted to a string of small hamlets near
~llinese Annals), cf. Gcoyraph. Jorrrnal,
xlviii. p. 115.
where the lesser strcanls debouch on to the
' Sai ' glacis (A-D. 3).
As in the adjoining sheet No. 14., three Correclio~zs. B. 3. The name Ken-Lo1
well-marked zones can be distinguished should be in black.
within this area. On the north we have C. 2. Divide the river names thus:
the drift-sands of the Taklamaktin iuterrupted
by the terminal courses of the Niya, Yirfir-ttoizgaz,
Ak-tdsk.
D. 1. Symbols of ' hard salt crust ' to
tungaz, and Endere rivers and the belts of
desert vegetation which are supported by
be changed to those of ' hard salt-encrusted
clay '.
them.
Omit tlie latitude observation symbol
The ground once occupied by tmo large at Endere Site.
terminal oases of the first and last of those C.3. The triangulated point PE. 6/60~,
rivers can no longer be reached by irrigation, wit11 height 1'2,400, to be inserted at lat.
and the small patches of cultivation now
Astroxomically observed IaLifades.
36' 35' 35" long. 83' 0' 34".
1900-01. Ovraz-langar, Camp 87 (station quarters ; A. 3) . . .
Niya-bizar, Camp 88 (near south end of village; B. 2) ...
36' 53' 12"
37' 4: 13"
Imnm-Jifar-Sidilr-mazir, Camp 91 (inner court of
Sarni ; B. 1) . . . ... ...
pilgrims'
... 37' 44' 16"
Niya Site, Camp 93 (close to ruined St6pa; B. 1)
1906-08. Kara-bulak, Camp 72 (A. 3) ... . . .
Malghun, Camp 75 (within hamlet; A. 3) ...
Kuchkach-bulaki (B. 3) .. . ...
31° 58' 44"
46' 30' 53"
36' 36' 21"
56' 36' 29"
NOTES ON S,HEET No. 20 (KARA-DAM AN, KARA-SHAHR RIVER)
The mapped area in this sheet shows a Tirim basin. Most of the latter range was
small portion of the wide valley of the Kara- flurveyed from the route followed in 1915 by
shahr river or Khaidu-go1 near its eastern R. B. LRI Singh along its southern foot and
end, together with a part of the outer range shown in Sheet No 21. The south-eastern
of the T'ien-shan which divides it from the corner of the sheet was surveyed in connec-