214 EXCURSION TO AJAGH-KUM-KÖL.
the Amban Crossed over», an unmistakable reminiscence of the visit which some Chinese amban once paid to this region. For instance, during my absence the amban of Tscharklik paid a visit to my camp at Temirlik, and from it rode on farther to the gold-mines of Toghri-saj, that he might with his own eyes convince himself of their value.
On the map of the Russian General Staff the valley between the Tschimentagh and the Kalta-alaghan is called At-atghan or the Shot Horse, an allusion to the trivial circumstance, that a hunter, after a run of bad luck, was on the point of perishing of hunger and was obliged to kill his horse. The name of Möle-kojghan, or the Saddle Pulled off, is derived from the same episode. The latitudinal valley is of course called quite simply Kakir, like the other similar latitudinal valleys; but it will be as well to retain the name of At-atghan in default of a better. In the tract south of Mandarlik this valley bifurcates on each side of the Ara-tagh, which thrusts itself in between the Tschimen-tagh and the Kalta-alaghan.
From the top of the pass in the Ara-tagh we saw to the south-west another pass leading over the Kalta-alaghan, which however we did not use. The transverse glen that leads down northwards from the latter pass is said to bear the name of Kalta-alaghan-saj. Counting from this glen and proceeding westwards, my guides enumerated the following transverse glens in succession on the northern slopes of the Kalta-alaghan, all of them joining successively the main glen of At-atghan — Kulanmätschit, Tosluk-saj, Kisil-saj, Iskenderne-saji, Tus-bulak (the glen in which we pitched Camp LXXXI), Amban-aschkan, Ak-tschoka, Kisil-tschap (No. 2), Murghun-alik, Piaslik. All these belong therefore to the sanie region and reach the transverse glen through the Tschimen-tagh. I was also given the names of the following transverse glens situated farther west and belonging to other hydrographical systems. All these likewise run towards the north; some of them we have already become acquainted with. They are Ligen, Toghri-saj, Kaschälik, Korumluk-saj, Ghal-saj, Unkurluk-saj, Dung-saj, Turdumet-alik, Inek-akkan, Kosuk-kakti (or kakkan), Dimen-alik, Basch-malghun, Tokus-davan, Monur-bulak, and then Kätschik and Tschertschen. Pisat-saj appears to be a transverse glen between Kosuk-kakti and Dimen-alik. As for the transverse glens on the south side of the Tschimen-tagh, I was told that they are known by the same names as the glens that correspond to them on the northern side of the range. Consequently there are two Halim-bajs and two Gändschuluks, and so on, each of these pairs of glens being separated by a pass in the summit of the range.
November 15th. As it approaches the pass the transverse glen of Tus-
bulak contracts and grows steeper. The crests on both sides were quite close to us; but on the whole the range produces a less imposing effect than the Tschimentagh. Grass grows on the soft, earthy slopes almost all the way up to the pass, but otherwise the surface is very stony, and the bed of the watercourse filled with débris and fragments of rock. But only in two places has the stream eaten its way in close to the granite cliffs on the left side of the glen in the same way as at Tus-bulak (Camp LXXXI); in other places its course lies between steep earthy hills. All the way up, the bottom of the watercourse contained large sheets of ice, but we saw no running water. In the mouths of several of the small side-glens there were also patches of ice, indicating the presence of springs. Here wild yak drop-
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