National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

256

THE MAPS OF STRAHLENBERG AND RENAT.

he has the legend: Här finns guld, or Here gold is found; the original informant meant that many of the gold-diggers came from Kiria.

Proceeding westwards we find, south of Choton, the Garriker, or Garrikians, which I cannot identify. Then follow the Kesmirer or Kashmirians, south of Mustack or Mus-tag. The river which on Renat's map is the river of Yarkand but in reality Khotan-darya, comes from a lake Charchol, obviously Kara-kul, so much the more as it is situated in the country of the Siara-Kolser or Siara-Kolsians, the people of Sarik-kol or Sarikol. In Badakshan again gold is to be found.

Tian-shan is well drawn, and it is called Musar ola, or Musart ula with two Turki and one Mongolian word. The correct translation, Isberg, Ice-mountain, is entered. Issik-kul is remarkably well placed and its form very good. It is called Toskål Noor and has the legend: Finnes järn sand, or Iron sand to be found. Strahlenberg has the name Issech kul for this lake, not nearly so well placed by him. Renat knows even Son-kul and the Narin river, and has them wonderfully well placed.

The interior of Eastern Turkestan is, on Renat's map, shown as rich in forests, though in reality the forests grow only in narrow strips along the rivers. Only south of the eastern part of the Tarim is the ground marked as occupied with sand deserts.'

The Tarim empties itself into the Lop-nor, which on Renat's map is called Läp. In the lake there are some islands. The eastern end of the lake has been rather unknown to Renat and his informants, for a river, Bolansiu, which must be the Bulundsir, enters this part of the lake. Leaving this inaccuracy alone, one cannot help noticing that the orientation of Lop-nor on Renat's map, in relation to the Tarim, agrees very well with my theories about the situation of the old, Chinese Lop-nor. z For the Tarim goes straight eastwards through the bed of the Kurruk-darya to the northern, now dried-up lake, and the Cherchen-darya enters the south-western corner of the lake, without joining the Tarim at all. The following is a passage from one of my narratives: 3 »The old chieftain of Abdal, Kunchekkan Beg, a friend of Przhevalsky and also my especial friend, is eighty years old. Both his father, Jehan Beg, and his grandfather, Numet Beg lived to be ninety years of age. Kunchekkan Beg told me, that his grandfather lived beside a large lake north of the existing Lop-nor of Pszhevalsky, and that, where the latter now is, there was at that time nothing but the sandy desert. The first formation of the southern Lop-nor dates from the year when Numet Beg was twenty-five years old, in consequence of the Tarim seeking a new channel for itself, and the lake beside which he dwelt, and in which his forefathers had fished, dried up. It was he (Numet Beg) who founded Abdal, and

I In this respect the different copies of Renat's map vary. On the Mogol original, there are no forests and no sand marked, showing that Renat has added these details to his copy from verbal information. On Benzelstierna's copy there are no trees, but only sand deserts.

2 I have discussed this problem in several of my previous books, more especially in Scientific Results, Vol. II. Compare also Dr. Albert Herrmann's important discussion, Op. supra cit.

3 Through Asia, Vol. II, p. 878.