IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Scientific Results of a Journey in Central Asia, 1899-1902 : vol.4 |
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Citation Information
~ ±L
552
OROGRAPHY OF CENTRAL TIBET.
way through the Lower Astin-tagh. But at no great distance east of that point the range again appears to be double; it is so represented on the map appended to Prschevalskij's Third Tourney (1879-80. It is the more southerly of these two ranges which he has called after Humboldt and which he crossed over by a pass 4024 m. high. Yet one stage farther towards the east the Astin-tagh merges into the Nan-schan, a mountain-system that lies entirely outside of the area we are considering. I would only call to mind, that the Astin-tagh is the one solitary range of the North Tibetan system which continues eastwards on the north side of the Tsajdam depression, whereas all the rest either terminate at its western edge or run along the southern side of the basin.
Let us throw together into one table the passes from west to east which we have just been considering. We then obtain the following altitudes for those passes which we regard as belonging to the upper border-range of the Kwenlun system, the question of the orographical connection of the Astin-tagh with the Kwen-lun proper being meanwhile disregarded.
Suget-davan 5434 m•
Pass S. of the Daschi-köl 5058
At-to-davan 5060
Pass S. of the Hangeit-köl 5274
Japkaklik-davan • 4741
Sarschu-davan 4780 »
Pass beside the upper Tscharklik-su . . . 2 944
Tasch-davan 3963
Pass S. of Basch-jol 3588 »
Pass in Eastern Astin-tagh 3247
For the lower border-range we have the following altitudes:
Sandschu-davan 4977 m.
Dalai-kurghan-art 4357 »
Tschoka-davan 2906 »
Kum-davan 3262 »
Pass at Lap-schi-tschen 2915 »
From this we may deduce the general rule, that notwithstanding one or two exceptions in the above list, the passes in the border-ranges of the Tibetan swelling decrease in altitude from west to east. The various passes are however in every way mutually comparable, for most of them are used by caravans or hunters, and all of them are known to the natives. Now it is evident that for the purposes of communication the lowest and easiest passes will be selected, and it is equally evident, that a catalogue of all the existing passes (supposing it indeed possible to draw one up) would contain a very great number that are higher than the known passes, but on the contrary very few or none at all that are lower.
It would serve no real purpose, from the altitudes of the passes enumerated above to calculate an average pass altitude for these twin border-ranges, because their
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