became more quiet and the temperature on the night of December 1 9th was - 2 2.10. But at , o o'clock a. m. the W. S. W. storm again set in with all its fury. The soil in the valley of Neka, gave an instructive illustration of the sorting activity of the wind, for it consists only of gravel and coarse sand, whereas all fine material has been blown away long ago. Only such material which is too heavy for the wind, remains. The screes of the surrounding mountains, which begin high up under the crests of living rock, contain nothing but coarse débris. The fine gravel that can be moved by the wind, is only rolled along the ground and does not travel any great distances. Only the fine dust goes with the wind, so far as it continues, which certainly may be over very extensive areas. At places where the soil is moist or where grass is growing, the wind has no power to move even the finest dust, though, of course, corrasion is always active.
On the night of December 20Ik, the storm continued, and went on the whole day, though not quite as severe as before ; the temperature being —15.9°. We, therefore, marched 11.2 km. to the E. S. E. rising only 34 m. or to 4,793 m. at Camp XCI, being at a rate of 1 :329. Disregarding small undulations, the ground, was nearly level.
Proceeding southeastwards we have, to our left, swampy though hard frozen ground of tussock-grass rising on its earth-cones half a meter above the soil. In the summer, the wet ground here is very soft and treacherous; farther east, a little lake is situated in connection with three swamps. Its name was said to be Tarmarlse-Iso, the same as that of the lake at Camp LXXXIX. The road follows the base of the southern mountains, and the distance between us and the northern hills increases gradually, so much so that a real plain opens out between the latitudinal ranges. We cross an erosion bed, not far from Camp XC, which certainly is the principal bed of the latitudinal valley going to the lake. Then a great number of furrows, from the southern mountains, are crossed; the largest of them being the Tana valley. All are filled with gravel. Between the furrows the rabbits' holes are so numerous that one cannot see how there would be space for any more. The rabbits carry on a ploughing work, reminding one of that of the earth-worms; around the openings of their holes, are small heaps of sand and red earth. In this way they assist the wind in its sorting work, for they bring up fine material to the surface which, by and by, is carried away by the storms.
To the south we have the mighty Ngorcha or Dongying (Dong-yin) Group with its snow-covered peak. From this mass, some large transverse valleys come down, breaking through the lower reddish ridges situated N. E. of the culminating group, and easily recognizable on the panorama from Camp XC. At one place, springs come out at the base of the mountains, forming large ice-sheets resembling a little lake. This region is called Seriya. Here the living rock is reddish white limestone,
IIIFカラー高解像度
