132 KARA-KOCSHUN.
sides 7 shepherds, 35 people engaged in agriculture at Tscharklik, and 23 who cultivate the ground and breed live-stock at Mijan (also called Saj, though not Muran), making a total of 122 souls in all; (2) Tusun-tschapghan, with 32 settled inhabitants, in addition to 28 agriculturists at Mijan and 13 at Tscharklik, but no shepherds — in all, 73 souls; (3) Jurt-tschapghan, where there are in all 84 people, some of whom dwell at Tscharklik, but the 84 people belong to only 4 ujlik. They used formerly to live at Abdal, but moved to Jurt-tschapghan after my first visit to the place. in 1896. Hence, strictly speaking, Abdal no longer exists: the old village remains of course, but its former inhabitants now live at Jurt-tschapghan.
On 7th April there was a fresh wind blowing with a velocity of 14 m. in the second. The drift-sand clung like a thick veil to the surface of the ground, and carried along with it twigs and sticks of the withered vegetation. Thus an astounding transportation of material was actually taking place under our very eyes. A single day's ride such as that is sufficient to give one some idea of the enormous quantities of material that are moved from one place to another by a solitary storm. Everything strains towards the south-west: the dunes descend steeply in that direction, and in the same direction too point their horns; On the south-west side of every mound there exists a rudimentary dune; and it is towards the south-west also that the gullies run which are eroded by the wind. Thither too the storms carry the drift-sand. It may be laid down as a general rule for the Desert of Lop, that the sand increases progressively in height towards the west. In the north-east part of the desert there is no sand at all; whereas in the south-west, for example on the north bank of the Tokus-tarim, there are high dunes. Taking the Kara-koschun as a whole, the distribution of the sand along its shores is as follows. On the east (i. e. north-east) side, which no traveller has yet visited, there are probably no dunes at all, or in any case they are insignificant. If dunes do exist beside the northeast prolongation of the lake, they must of necessity help to fill up the depression by moving out into it. If dunes do not exist there, the same result is brought about in an even greater degree by the drift-sand and dust which are blown directly into the lake. The solid material which is thus dropped into it remains there immovably, whereas that which is deposited on each side of it (north-west and southeast), that is to say on dry ground, is caught up by the next storm, and so transported farther. One moment's reflection is sufficient to make clear the consequences of this difference between the dry ground and the wet. Suppose that, on the accompanying cut (fig. 85), the dark rectangle 1 a represents the surface of the Kara-koschun,
and the light-coloured rectangle 1 represents 'a region parallel to it north-west of the lake, and having the same area as the lake. Further, let us suppose that the layer of the atmosphere immediately above both areas is at a given moment loaded with drift-sand and dust, carried thither by the prevailing wind, the direction of which is indicated by the arrows. Lastly, if we suppose that the storm, which has just driven the solid material up into the air, ceases, then the material which it has lifted up will be deposited evenly and uniformly over both surfaces 1 and r a. When the next storm comes, a great part of the material which settled upon surface I is again caught up, but that which fell upon the area 1 a has meanwhile sunk to the bottom, and is thus inaccessible. During the following storms the solid material
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