OVER THE ARA-TAGH AND THE KALTA-ALAGHAN. 51
to say the least, a long way south of the Kalta-alaghan. To this last Prschevalskij gives the name of Columbus Range, which again is unnecessary, seeing that the range already possesses its own native name, well known to all gold-prospectors and yak-hunters. From the 1899 edition of the Russian map this name has, rightly enough, been deleted; but it occurs, I am sorry to see, on map 62 of the 1902 edition of Stieler's Hand-atlas. On Pjevtsoff's map the Kalta-alaghan bears four names: Ambal-aschkan, Kalga-lagan, Ara-tagh, and Columbus, the last being applied to the range as a whole. To the western part of the Akato-tagh Prschevalskij gives the name Tschamen-tagh, while the eastern part he calls Besimennij ( -= the Nameless), but delineates it as running north-east and uniting with the Astin-tagh. The direction is shown a little more accurately on Pjevtsoff's map and on the map of the General Staff, but is still to a large extent imaginary. Of course all these errors are repeated in the ordinary European atlases. I cannot of course pretend to correct all these errors in detail; I must content myself with pointing out that in respect of both its orography and its morphology this part of Northern Tibet might previous to my visit have been looked upon as to some extent almost a terra incognita.
July 26th. Our route now ran westwards in the direction of Kum-köl, almost at right angles to the track we had followed over the Kalta-alaghan. Once or twice we caught glimpses of the lake, but as we dipped down into lower ground it became hidden behind the irregularities of the ground. Thus we were now travelling in a gigantic latitudinal valley stretching along the southern foot of the Kalta-alaghan, from which black spurs and other ramifications, with an occasional snowy peak, jut out into the valley. On the south the valley is bordered by an extensive drift-sand area, with dunes, which when seen from a distance resemble a low, yellow mountain-range. The dunes therefore rise to a pretty considerable height, and are absolutely barren. The northern margin of the drift-sand area is wonderfully sharply drawn, and runs from east-south-east to west-north-west. Although we were travelling west, with a slight inclination towards the north, we were nevertheless approaching nearer to it, for we were marching diagonally across the valley. At the beginning of the day's march, when we were still pretty high up, we observed dark rocky bluffs projecting as it were through the sand, though they were no doubt as a matter of fact behind it. As we advanced, we left behind us the vast snowy range the three culminating points of which I had noted from the pass of Avras. One of the three, probably the middle one, must be identical with Prschevalskij's Schapka Monomacha. The names Tschulak-akkan and Takta-pärä, which I have already mentioned as designating mountains north of the lofty snowy range, are also said to belong to streams in the same vicinity. The Tschulak-akkan appears to be the upper course of the Batugantu-gol, which enters the Tsajdam depression at Hadschir. It is in one of its southern side-glens that the gold-mines of Bokalik are situated, a place well known to all Lopliks, and also visited by the inhabitants of Kerija. According to Roborovskij's map the springs of Tschulak-akkan are situated on the northern slope of the Schapka Monomacha. Carey and Dalgleish, who journeyed through this glen, call it Tsagantokhoj, its Mongolian name. The name given to it by the Mussulmans is said to be derived from a man Tschulak (= the Cripple), who formerly dwelt there. On the north this glen is said to be joined by another glen bearing the name of Takta-pärä
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