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

TONG.

79

The name Tong, pronounced Tung, signifies »narrow passage», though tong-also means »frozen)). We continued a little farther to the village of Kandalakslt and were received in the house of the razing--bashi, who had to provide us with suchis or watermen for the passage of Raskan-darya. Most of them lived in this village.

In Tong and Kandalaksh the river was called simply Darya, or sometimes Tongning-daryasi. The name Raskan, or Raskain as it is pronounced in Tong-, is in use higher up the river, where also the name Sarafshan is heard. The Taghduiizbash-darya or Spinde River joins the main river a long way lower down. In the summer the latter is swollen to enormous size and cannot be crossed. People who have to go to Yarkand, therefore travel only in autumn, winter or early spring. In the winter the river is said to be covered with very solid ice. Three days journey

is calculated for a man on horseback to road to Kaslig-ar; one has to take the

Kök-rabat as I did.

The Tong River is also said to

Yarkand. From Tong there is no direct road by Yarkand, or by Yaka-arik and

be very swollen during the summer and

I I

if

occasionally cannot be crossed. They say it is a yava-su or wild water. After strong rains the bed becomes filled with muddy water in a few hours. As a rule the amount of rain is not very great. More than half a foot of snow rarely falls in the winter.

At Tong a tributary valley enters from S. S. W. It has a road leading to the village of Kichik-Tong of some 3o houses. This road crosses a pass which is very difficult and can only be used by men on foot. It was already said to be covered with snow. Kichik-Tong is said to be at the same distance from Raskan-darya as is Tone, and in a valley of the same size as the Tong- valley which also joins the Raskan-darya. The river of Kichik- Tong- obviously comes from a pass of the same importance as Kandahar-davan, and in the same range as it.

On September 2 3rd we had 4 km. eastwards to the river, and then on and along the river 2 km. N. N. W. to the next camp. At the river I found an altitude of 1,994 m., and, at the camp, Kuruk-langar, which is situated some 2 5 or 3o m. above the river, 2,013 m.

Riding down to Raskan-darya we passed the villages Kengerabuin and Kurugbagh. The Tong River is crossed several times amongst large blocks in its bed. At the mouth, to the left, the crystalline schist stands in 5 5° S. 50° W. The Tong valley is much narrower than the Raskan valley, and the roar and rush of the tributary is much louder than that of the compact and mighty mass of the main river. Both to the south and the north the Raskan valley presents magnificent views. The river has cut down its furrow deep between wild, steep mountains, the ramifications and slopes of which are seen in picturesque perspectives both upwards and downwards. The water has a greenish colour but is not quite clear. The