| THE GLENS AND STREAMS OF THE ILVE-TSCHIMEN AND THE ASTIN-TAG1I. 253 Jarkent-darja. With regard to our little stream of the Ilve-tschimen, that part of its course which has an east-west direction flows close under the crest of the Astintagh, but a pretty long way from the crest of the Ilve-tschimen. "hhe great spurs between which the three affluents have scooped out their beds all branch off from this latter range. The Paschalik-saj we have already dealt with. Next comes the Tughuluk, which enters the main stream at the point where it makes a slight bend towards the south. It is formed by two spring-water feeders, the eastern one issuing from the same mountain complex as the Buktöj, which, as we have seen, flows towards the east and enters the Paschalik, while the western feeder originates in the same mountainous region as the Kum-taschlik stream. I have mentioned above a track which is said to lead from Buktöj vi Tughuluk and Kum-taschlik to Tscharklik; this is joined by other tracks from Ottoru-buktöj and Astin-buktöj. But where these tracks lead to I have been unable to ascertain, that is whether they descend one or other of the transverse glens or whether they cross transversely the various offshoots that separate those glens. The Tughuluk-saj is joined from the right by two tributaries, the Jajlak-saj and the Schor-tschap. The Kum-taschlik receives from the right the glen of Atschik-su. The fact of these tributaries coming from the right does not necessarily prove that the main crests of the several mountain spurs lie excentrically or transposed to the east; for not only have we found that the Paschalik receives from the left the three side-glens of the Upper, Middle, and Lower Buktöj, but it may be a pure chance that it is only the glens on the right that are named. When all these sajs carry water, as they do in the summer — we have been told that the Paschalik alone is so large that it is not easily fordable — they combine to form a stream which often brings down formidable quantities of water. According to the description that was given to me, the above-mentioned Taschdavan route quits the glen of the stream on the left, or west, beginnning at Davanteve, for just there the glen becomes absolutely impassable. From that point therefore it may be regarded as a deep, wild mountain gorge, its bottom littered with stones and gravel, the entire bed of which is in summer filled with a rushing, foaming torrent, fenced in on both sides by perpendicular walls of rock. The nearest point at which this gorge can be passed is precisely Tasch-davan. The place where the stream issues from the mountains is known as Tar-aghis, or the .>Narrow Opening» (properly . mouth»), and it does so through a narrow rocky gateway, the termination of the deep, wild gorge. It put me in mind of the similar rocky portals that I visited in the Kirk-saj between the Tschertschen-darja and the Kerija-darja. According to what my guides told me, it is indeed possible to proceed a short distance up the gorge, as far as a couple of expansions, where bushes and under-woods grow, but above that the glen is absolutely impassable ; just as we shall find the Tscharklik-su to be where it issues from the mountains. Even in winter the narrow gorge between Tar-aghis and Davan-teve is not used; the natives prefer at all times the track z'z/z Kum-(Kil-)davan and Tasch-davan. Such a thing as anyone even attempting to force the gorge had never been heard of, and it is probable that in winter it is not practicable for horses, perhaps not even for pedestrians. | | | |
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