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THE DRAGON LAKE ACCORDING TO RICHTIJOFEN, YULE AND MONTGOMERIE.

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The watershed of the Pamir Steppe, is, however, close to the Pamir Lake. The Mirza descended gradually from it, and after four long marches found himself at Tashkurgan (Stone Fort), the capital of Sirikul, which is only 10,986 feet above the sea; the stream which he had followed down had become very large, and was clearly flowing eastward towards Yarkuna'.

Viâ Yangi-hisar and Yangi-shahr he finally reached Kash ar.

In his discussion Montgomerie again points to the importance of the lake as being situated on the watershed. The Mirza found himself in a valley some four or five miles wide.' The lake he estimated at two or three miles in length. A frozen stream issued from its western end, being one of the sources of the Panja branch of the Oxus. »The small valley was bounded on the north and south by craggy hills, rising up suddenly from the level ground.» This part of Pamir was called Pamir Kul or Little Pamir. The guides told him the name of the lake was Pamir-köl. »The mountains close at hand were comparatively not very high, but farther to the north higher peaks were visible, as also to the south in the direction of Yassiìz and Kanjūt, but the path itself passed out between endless hillocks, and at times there was literally nothing to guide the eye as to which line to take.»

Montgomerie's article is illustrated by a beautiful little map 2, no doubt very good for its time and as being the result of a Mohammedan's journey. In the particular point which here is most interesting to us, it is wrong. For it provides the Pamir-köl or Chakmakden-köl with an effluent joining the effluent from Wood's Sir-i-köl. In reality the extremely low water-parting threshold is situated west of the lake, and the only effluent runs to the east under the name of Jksu and later on Murghab. However, the little brook of Burg ut-uya at the S. W. end of the lake seems, according to Russian and English maps, to form a temporary or vanishing bifurcation to the lake and to the Panj.3 A traveller approaching the lake from the S. W. may easily get the impression that water flows out of it both to the S. W. and N. E.

Returning to Sir Henry Yule, Montgomerie once says that Hsüan-chuang's lake was identical with Wood's Sir-i-köl. On another time he says that Hsüan-chuang apparently took the same route as the Mirza, and finally that the pilgrim travelled exactly the same way as the Mirza. But this explorer did not pass by Wood's Sir-i-köl, so either one or the other-if not both — of Sir Henry Yule's hypotheses must be wrong. After quoting some other geographers' opinions, we will have to return to this question.

Sir HENRY RAWLINSON says, amongst other things :

Mons. Julien supposes the Chinese notice to refer to Wood's lake, improperly called Sir-i-kol, and it is quite possible he may be right, as this lake is far nearer the direct line of route, east and west, than the northern lake of Kara-kúl. Klaproth, however, has always taken it for granted that the Dragon lake of the Chinese is Kara-kill. Humboldt discusses the question at length in his `Asie Centrale', and inclines on the whole to identify Wood's Sir-i-kol with the Dragon Lake of the Buddhist travellers.4

= Loc. cit., p. 159.

2 Cf. Montgomerie's map of the Mirza's journey, PI. III.

3 Vide Vol. IX, Journeys in Eastern Pamir, p. 65-66.

4 Monograph on the Oxus. Journal Roy. Geogr. Soc. Vol. XLII, 1872, p. 491. — Rawlinson is right in saying: »The name of Sarík-Kúl (or Sir-i-kol) has never been applied, I believe, at any time, ancient or modern, to Wood's lake.» — On the KapTa IIaMHpa cocTaB.neua H .nnTorpacfnposaua npM TypKecTaucKowi BOeHHO-TOrIOrpacpmecKoM~ oT)t1k,nh 1892-1893 (?), the lake is called 03. 3op-L-Ky.71h. On my sketch map in Through Asia, Vol. I, I have Sor-kul.