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0156 Across Asia : vol.1
Across Asia : vol.1 / Page 156 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000221
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C. G. MANNERHEIM

other side of Chulak Kapchik aj. Kirghiz water, grass and fuel. — 5 Tgertash. Kirghiz water, grass and fuel. Here the road divides. One goes in 3-4 days to Prjevalsk. Another leads over Koulu (Koily?) dawan along the mountains of the same name to Tli. — 6 Turpa, Kirghiz water, grass and fuel. From there 2 roads go to Tli. One over Sarijeza, Kukjar and Kapkak dawan, the other over Turgan aqsu dawan. The road is said to be good throughout its length, if there were no obstacle in the beginning.

  1. Gugurtlik karaul — 2 Kaitche — 3 Kaitche agze. Kirghiz water, grass and fuel. 4 Tchakart and so on.

  2. Is said to exist from Mazar Sultan Karmysh ata over the Savabtchi mountains and Qumariq darya (Aqsu darya?), Iniltchek and Sarijeze. Said to be very difficult and is only used by horse-thieves and Kirghiz.

This morning I started after spending five very pleasant days in a comfortable house surrounded by grand scenery. I presented the venerable old aksakal with a small Arabic ccpy of the Koran and his son-in-law Abdul Kadyr, who had taken a great deal of trouble in helping me, with a silver watch, quite pretty, but unfortunately with the slight drawback that it does not go, apparently like all the pretty, but cheap watches bought for me in Paris. To lessen his disappointment I added a silver chain. Abdul Kadyr put on my modest gift next to a beautiful gold watch that I had seen before. I was terrified lest he should try to set the treasure going in my presence, but luckily all went well, as I was in such a hurry to mount my horse. Both men seemed pleased, accompanied me for some distance, promised to mention me in their prayers etc.

I took the Kashgar road along the foot of the Qara Teke mountains in order to make a day's march up the course of the Taushqan darya and then follow its bed down to Aqsu and on to the Yarkand darya. With Dr Sven Hedin's excellent map in my pocket I scarcely needed to put any questions to my guide in order to find my way. The road goes in a WSW direction and approaches the chain of mountains already mentioned until it reaches their foot, along which it continues. In the distance to the north Taushqan is visible. The land is fiat, tilled and inhabited. At first there is not an untilled spot and the houses are huddled close to each other, but gradually they stand further apart and you see untilled stretches more frequently. The soil, at first the yellow löss with its fine dust that is characteristic of the whole of Chinese Turkestan, gradually acquires an admixture of stones and here and there you ride across barren patches of gravel.

A quarter of an hour after leaving the town we entered the area of the village of Sugetlik. With its ioo farms it occupies an area that it takes i 1/4 hours to cross. On the western boundary of Sugatlik a small barren plain Aklasaj, much mixed with gravel, begins, on the northern edge of which we caught sight of the village of Chajlang with about 5o farms. On the west the plain is bounded by the wo farms of the village of Atbashi, surrounded by tilled fields. In Rtbashi we passed a Chinese guard-house, no longer used. The fields gave way to ground, greatly mixed with gravel, that comes down from the foot of the mountains to the Taushqan darya flowing on our right. A little grass growing in tufts was the only vegetation visible. A couple of rain channels, divided by a spur of the mountain

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February 23rd. Bashaghma karaul village.