290 THE LOP-NOR PROBLEM.
darja (= Tarim + Kontsche-darja) conveyed its waters. The fact of the map showing them as detached signifies nothing, for their connections with the main lake may easily have been completely hidden by the kamisch. How Lôu-lan was situated with regard to these three lake-divisions it would be impossible to say, for this town does not appear on the map. Further, we are distinctly told in the text that, south of the Baghrasch-köl, the Tarim river flowed to the east, and that, still farther in the same direction, it emptied into the Lop-nor. If, on the Wu-tschang map, we take one step farther south, we come to the four small lakes, three of which have names, namely Urghu-khoitu (the Eastern), Bagha-ghaschon (the Little Salt Lake), and the Tarim Lake; the smallest lake, the one farthest west, bears no name. I have already stated that these four lakes occupy the same position on the Wu-tschang map that they occupy on the Si yii-schuei-tao-ki map. But the text of the latter is far from being in agreement with the map. It is my firm conviction that here again the map is based upon materials collected at different periods. In order to prove this however, I must once more quote Himly, who says:
»Der Verfasser (von Si yii-schuei-tao-ki) Sü Sung Sing Po, welcher sich 1817 selber in Ili aufgehalten hatte, wurde dadurch veranlasst, 1824 das vorliegende Werk herauszugeben. Unähnlich den meisten Beschreibungen der Kreise, Bezirke and Statthalterschaften des eigentlichen China's, geht dasselbe von den Flüssen aus und beschreibt im Anschluss daran die an ihnen gelegenen Ortschaften, nebenbei aber auch die weitere Umgebung unter Rücksichtnahme auf die frühere Geschichte des Landes. Von den fünf Heften umfassen die ersten beiden das Gebiet des Lop-Nur und des Tarim-Flusses, also Ost-Turkistan, das dritte diejenigen des Khara-Nur», etc. — — »Zu jeder Abteilung gehört eine Karte.»* Then he continues: — »Des Verfassers Aufzeichnungen scheinen zu sehr verschiedenen Zeiten gemacht zu sein, und wie das dritte Heft auf die beiden ersten folgt, die vom Lop-Nur und seinen Zuflüssen handeln, so wird der Verfasser zur Zeit, wo er über den Khara-nur schrieb, besser Bescheid gewusst haben. Der Bagha-ghaschon ist offenbar einer der vier kleinen südlichen Seen, ghaschon (»bitter») war er wohl, ehe der Tarim-Fluss hineinfloss. Nun möchte der Tarim-See aber wohl auch dahin zu verstehen sein, dass der Tarim-Fluss seinen Lauf dahin genommen hat.»**
And just as, according to Himly, the cartographical notes were written down at different periods, so also the sources would appear to belong to different epochs. If the water of the Bagha-ghaschon was once salt, it must have turned fresh after the Tarim flowed into it, for in all probability this river continued towards the east-north-east as far as the Ike-ghaschon, a salt-lake of which nothing except the name appears on the map. In this circumstance again we can discern the implication of a hydrographical change. In agreement with Himly, I consider it likely that koschun in Kara-koschun is the same word as the Mongolian ghaschun (= »bitter»). Ghaschunnor is a very common name in all Mongolian countries. The Ike-ghaschon and the Bagha-ghaschon, the Great and the Little Salt Lake respectively, are therefore two small lakes lying, according to the wu-tschang map, the former on the east, the
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