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

Chap. IVj NOTES ON SIIEETS No. 20 70
tion wit11 my visit of 1907 to t11c rurned site
of Kl~dra (D. .I.). 'L'lrc ])lar~e-table \vorli has
been atljnsted to tlte ;rositionn aclopttd for
Kara-slralrr, Korla and Ihixnr; sec Notcs on
Slreots 21, 24..
i'"x an account of my visit to Klrora,
of. Deserf Culhiry, ii. p. 372; Peri?~din, iii.
pp. 1224. sqq. Tltc northerrr slope of the
outer T'ien-shan range then seclr, appeared
very barren, and even irr the wide valley of
the Khaidu-gol, stony but scrub-coverctl in
XOTES ON SHEET No.
Tlre area slto\vn in this sheet forms part
of the extreme north-eastern corner of the
T.irim basin proper. Of the routes along
which the surveys lay, those leading from
Korla to the Inchike-daryi were followed in
1908 and the rest, mainly north and south
of them, in 1915.
Tlre c.ornpilation of this sheet and those
in~metliately adjoining to the east and southeast
has been adversely aflected by the erroneous
longitude adopted at the time for the
position of Korla in connection wit11 R. B.
Li1 Singh's northern triangulation series
along the Kuruk-tigh. In paras. 2-4 of
Major Mason's Memorandum prefixed to
Appendix A, the circum~tances have been
explained which necessitated in 1921 a
re-examination of the computations relating
to this triangulation and led to the rejection
of its distant connection with the southern
series of the same surveyor's triangulation
along the K'un-lun range.
Tlre western extremity of the nortlrern
series, as marked by station CC 85 (31i0)
in Sheet 25. A. I, approaclres Korla within
about 5 miles, and as a result of the revised
computation it was decided to base the work
of the northern series on Mr. Clementi's value
of Korla (lat. 41' 44' 20.8", long. 86' 10'
10.4"). While the tables of Appendis A
now show throughout the revised values for
R. B. Lil Singh's triangulation stations and
With referei~cc to blnjor Mneon'r; statement
in pnrn. 4 of his nbove quoted hIemornndom about the
d;fficultiesnttending compilntiun o\%.inp to war condition~,
1 may conveniently here mention thnt my
absence in England clnrtng 1916-17 prevented my
being consulted nt the time n# to the doubts thrown
upon the computation resoltn of the northern series
in relation to the podition cf Korla.
In Sheet No. 49 of the 1E06-08 Map the approxi.
paria, tlrc-re was little to suggeht the rich
grazing wl~iclr has rnacle tile ~~lateauw of
Yulduz at rtn heat1 favourite Ital~rrta for
nornad tribcs I'rorrr tllc times of tlte Huns
down to the Xlon~ols of tlre present day.
But on ascending to tlre Kara-daw;in (A.4)
by a route wlriclr lpadn frortl Yangi-hisnir to
Yulduz, iJR1 Sing11 noticed tine pine-forest
clotl~ing tile southern slopes of tlte range
from an elevation of about 8000 feet upwards.
21 (DUGUIL, KORLA)
points, it Iras been impossible to rectify their
positions as shown in the map sl~eets. The
corres~,ondirig correction in the case of Korla
necessitates a shifting of its longitude by
about 15' :3O" to the east, while the latitnde
remains ~,mctically unchanged .I:'
In addition to the latitude observations
recorded below, use was made also for the
main road of those available from Mr.
Clemer~ti's work and for the Tirim river
route (Ugen-daryi) from that of Dr. Hedin.
The latter route and that along the lnchikedaryi
were adjusted in longitude to the
values derived for Peres and Shahyir (Sheet
No. 17) from the traverse between Kuche
and the Keriya river.
For a brief account of my observations
regarding the Korla oasis and the ancient
topography of this region, see Serinrlia, iii.
pp. 1230 sqq. There the reasons for the
surveys made in the desert between the
Konche-daryi and Inchike-daryi have also
been explained. The part played by the
riverine tracts of the Inchike-daryi and
Tirim in early historical topography is discussed
in Seritzrlia, iii. pp. 1236 sq.
Except for the presence of some driftsand
belts towards the Konche-daryi, the
area shown in this sheet south of the line
of oases along the foot of the T'ien-shan,
shares the character of the scrub- and junglecovered
zone extending around the cultivated
matel? correct Iongitnde of 8ti0 10' is shoan for Korla.
That the erroneour lo~lgitodc now adopted for Korls
has not serioosly affected the compilation of :he work
forther west runy be concloded from the notes above
(Sheet No. 17) concerning the Iongitnde of Knebi,
and also from the fact th~t the longitode 84' 10' 20shoan
for Bugor-bizir in onrsheet, (A. 1) accords well
with the chronometrical value of Dr. Vaillant, nii.
84' ll', 1 (see La Qiographir, 1921, p, 498).