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

ACROSS THE ULUG-ART IN 1895.

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The road follows the lower slopes of the terraces at the right side of the valley, avoiding the swampy ground along the river. To our right we leave the mouth of the Aramut jilga with snowy mountains in its background. The living rock was the common crystalline schists with quartzite and pegmatite veins, situated

4o° W. Then we cross the river to its left bank. The quantity of water in 15° S.

was about the same as the day before, or 2.5 cub. m. per second. The current is slow and noiseless, the water transparent only to i 2 cm. The river was so small on account of the cold and cloudy weather. After warm sunny summer days it grows rather big and is sometimes difficult and even impossible to cross. At high water the swampy patches at the sides of the river are also inundated. Even now their ground was so swampy that the animals sank deep in it, and we had to ride on solid ground higher up the left side. Here the road is situated on the screes of gravel and on the top of the terrace. At several places the grass is very good, and yaks and camels were grazing.

The valley suddenly becomes very narrow, as a gorge, and remains so for about a half kilometer. This picturesque corridor is bounded by very steep walls of wild rocky cliffs. The river fills nearly the whole bottom, and sometimes one has to ride in the water amongst blocks. Occasionally there is space left for the path at the left side. The water had now a temperature of 16.6°. The schist lay in 72° S. 4o° W.

The narrow passage comes to an end, and is followed by a great open widening with good grass. Then there is a second, shorter gorge and a second very large widening of the Muclii valley. Hitherto we had only passed small ji/gas or side valleys, but now we approached the more considerable transverse valley by which the brook of Ulug-art, after piercing the mountain range to the north of our road, comes down and joins the Muchi-su. In this transverse valley there are also considerable erosion terraces. The brook of UluK -art was here divided into two branches of clear water. Just at the mouth of the valley there is a flat extensive fan which forces the Muchi-su towards the right side of the main valley.

Just east of the fan there is a large plain with good grass, and large flocks of sheep and goats were grazing amongst the auls pitched here. About midway we had passed the Chinese fort of Muchi, where 3 Chinese soldiers and a few Kirgiz and Kashgarliks were living in black tents. The lansa of the place was said to

possess 8o ponies.

The place where we camped at the junction of the two valleys was called Küil-times, or properly Kiin-tegnnes, i, e. »the sun does not reach», for this part of the valley remains in shadow during the winter. Sixteen tents were said to exist here in three awls; eight at our camp, and two, each with four kara-ui, a little lower down. Their inhabitants are Naimans. In the winter they wander some distance