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0661 Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.3
Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.3 / Page 661 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000216
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FIRST STAGES ACROSS THE TIBETAN PLATEAU.

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debouches upon a large brook, which descends from the great snowy mass on the north, and has scooped out for itself a deep and distinct bed towards the south-south-east. The water was clear and excellent to the taste. Owing to the rough and hilly character of its side-slopes, we were obliged to march in the bottom of the glen, which grew increasingly deeper and narrower as we descended it. The bed is quite filled with chips and débris of the red sandstone, making it slow work to march; we had to cross over the brook times without number. In some places on the right side of the glen there were narrow stretches of sand-dunes. At length the brook was prevented from continuing farther south-south-east by a minor range; being unable to break through this, it turns at right angles towards the east-north-

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east, and soon afterwards disappears amongst the hills. It is pretty safe to say, that it terminates in some salt lake in that direction. Leaving this stream on the left, we crossed over the obstructing ridge by a little flat pass, on the north side of which was a small pool. We made Camp XXIX at the eastern corner of a little lake, down to which a broad glen leads from the north, the altitude being 4959 m. The water was drinkable, although it had a distinctly saline flavour. The areometer gave a sp. gr. of 1.004 at a temperature of 9.1°. One would have expected to find that this little lake, confined as it is to such a distinctly self-contained basin, would be intensely salt; but probably it possesses an invisible outlet at some level through the layer of sand, by which the salt water occasionally makes its escape. Both the configuration of the ground and the presence of older shore-lines reveal that the level varies as much as a couple of meters. Possibly it was just then at its minimum, and during the summer would rise, for I have no doubt the western part of the lake is entered by some stream or other coming down off the snow-fields to the north. At that time it was not entered by even the very tiniest brook, so that possibly it

Fig. 353. THE GLEN FILLED WITH SANDSTONE DÉBRIS.