94 THE TARIM RIVER.
east. From the second loop of the day's journey we came on the left to three small watercourses in narrow, but plainly marked channels, the third being especially sharp-cut, with steep faces on both sides. These watercourses, which come from the Kona-darja, and are known collectively as Kamar-darjasi, traverse a poplar wood. In what appeared • to be an old abandoned loop of the Kona-darja we observed a desiccated lake called Ärmän-köl. This was on the left of the river; and north of it we found still in use the name of Julghun-köl or the Tamarisk Lake, attached to a dry hollow in what was said to be another loop of the old river. In 1898 a little water made its way down the Kona-darja at the time of the summer flood; but in 1899 the bed remained dry all summer, though the flood at its first appearance did indeed make an attempt to follow the old course. But the Kona-darja being now to all intents and purposes a cul-de-sac, the little water that enters it soon comes to a standstill, and remain stagnant.
Next we had, on the right bank, Porutschi-kotan ; then, on the left, Tälpäk; and finally, on the right again, Ak-jantak-kum, a belt of sand which accompanies the river for some distance. Opposite to it is the lower extremity of the Konadarja, making a broad gap through the woods. Again, we had on the right the district of Kartschigha-dschaji, and on the left Kantschik-öldi, where the river is split into two arms by a reed-grown island, 'with a high bank at its upper extremity and low alluvial deposits at its lower. The water in the left-hand arm was almost stationary. At Tälpäk, a second place bearing this name, we again made our camp beside the old Tarim. Here we found nine shepherds and their families, each in charge of 300 to 1500 sheep, the united flocks numbering altogether 8000 animals. In the tract of Ak-jantak there were 8 aghils, or »sheep-folds», with about 3000 sheep in each. The former group were within the administrative district of Schah-jar, the latter in that of Tschimen. In this locality the sheep industry stands at a relatively high level. Both the wool and the skins are bought by Andischan merchants living in Ak-su and sold to Russian Turkestan.
From these localities it is said to be a three days' journey south to the great sandy desert, where a few pavans, or »hunters», go to hunt the wild camel. The Arka-darja is reported to be only one day's journey in the same direction; consequently it flows considerably to the north of the desert, and very probably is identical with the Lajlik-darja and the Atschik-darja. A little water is said to trickle along the first-named in the latter part of the summer, but it becomes lost in the sand before it reaches the Tarim. This stream is totally unexplored, except that I crossed it at a single point in my former journey. The names given to it are significant. The Lajlik-darja means the Muddy River, a name pointing to the large quantities of alluvium which it contains. The Atschik-darja, the Bitter River, is derived either from the saliferous soil it flows through or from the pools which stagnate in its bed acquiring a saltish taste. The Arka-darja, or the Farther River, is so called because it lies beyond the Tarim.
Northwards it is three days' journey to the great Kutschar highway. Between it and the river stretches the Kisil-kum zone of sand, 5 to 6 km. wide.
The shepherds of Tälpäk had also made the observation, that the river rises before the ice begins to form. They considered that it had then reached its au-
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