IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Southern Tibet : vol.7 |
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Citation Information
, J
DIFFERENT VIEWS REGARDING KARA-KORUM IN THE YEARS 1871-1880.
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Regarding the geographical position of different places in Eastern Turkestan, IIontgomerie thoroughly discusses the results of HAYWARD, SHAW and others, and points out that already some ten years earlier, his survey of the Kara-korum and Mustagh Ranges had allowed him to conclude that the positions assigned to such places by HUMBOLDT in his Asie Centrale were not in accordance with British results.
It is curious to see how little even the best trained geographer knew of the Yarkand River only 5o years ago. The Mirza noted the size of the rivers between Kashgar and Kara-korum of which the Yarkand River was the largest. «It is a puzzle to think what can become of its great body of water.» As Yarkand was only at about 4,000 feet above the sea, Montgomerie thought that »it must very soon get pretty close to the level of the sea, and there is evidently no chance of its getting out of Asia into the sea». He found it not impossible that the »Sirikul River» could come from the Karakul Lake. It is joined by other rivers, amongst them »by the river which drains the northern face of the Karakorum mountains; the combined stream forming the great Yarkund River» .
In 1872 Sir HENRY YULE communicated to the Royal Geographical Society a Tourney from Peshawar to Kashgar and Varkand in Eastern Turkestan, or Little Bokhe rci, throng-h Afghånisidn, Balkh, Badakhshdn, Wakhczn, Pamir, and Sarkol, undertaken by Faiz Buksh, in connection with the Mission of T. D. Forsyth, during- 1870.' In this enumeration of itineraries of Oriental source, it is said that, on the whole, it appears certain that the Turkestan territory is surrounded on three sides by the Bulut Tagh chain of mountains. The following resuwnC of the general orography is not bad, provided that it is from an Oriental author:
The Pamir Steppes connect several chains of mountains, z'z _. the Hindû Kush, in the south-west; the Kuen Luen, in the east, the Kara Koram, in the Bolar; the Thi6..n Shan chain, in the north, which runs from Tirak Dawan, and Ming Yol, to the Western FarghAna Pass. According to native geographers, the Thian Shan chain, which commences north of Eastern Turkistan, belongs to Mongolistån, which, commencing north of Kdshghar, runs westward of that place , and, running on southwards, joins the Kara Koram and Kuen Luen chain in the south-east of Pamir. Here it branches off in two directions; one branch goes into the Chinese Empire, passing to the north and north-west of Tibet (this may perhaps be Kuen Luen). The other great branch runs on to the ocean, passing north and north-west of the Punjab and Hindustan, and south and south-west of Tibet. This is probably the great Himalaya chain of mountains.
In volume VIII I am going to deal with Sir HENRY YULE'S opinion regarding the Ts'ung-ling, as set forth in his Essay on the Geography of the valley of the Oxus.2 Here, therefore, only a few words have to be said regarding the Mai of
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I Papers connected with the Upper Oxus Regions. Journal Roy. Geogr. Soc. Vol. 42. 1872, p. 438 et seq.
John Wood: .1 Journey le the Source tf the River Oxus. .. New Edition, London 1872.
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