trap, the cord is automatically set free from the pins, and the trap »goes off». Different sizes of these tosak are in use throughout East Turkestan; the smallest being employed for catching hares, the next larger size for foxes and wild cats, the largest, which are very heavy, for tigers. This beast is sometimes left a week in the trap before it is shot.
November 17th. A drop of _± o. Transparency, 3.6 cm. at 7 a. m., and 6.9 cm. at I p. m. The height of the banks, 2.83 m.; high-water level, 2.31 m. The river serpentined, though not so badly as at its worst; but it was a great deal narrower than it had been before. The poplars were rather more plentiful, and in places even formed forest; all the same, the prevalent vegetation was steppe plants and tamarisks. The hydrography of the region is extremely complicated. My guide, a hunter, a man who knew what he was about, and whose calling made him familiar with all the woods of that region, gave me the following information. South of the district of Ghischi-kotan, on the right bank, is the Tschong-hasanak-darja, which derives its water from the main river (see below). Its course is to the south-west, but it comes to an end immediately south of Ghischi-kotan, thus forming a sort of fluvial cul-de-sac, or stagnant arm, with a chain of small lakes still remaining in it even in the late autumn. The only inhabitants on its banks, which are planted with forest, are the hunter and his family. Its water is always fresh, owing to its being renewed yearly from the big river.
IIIF Color HighRes
