16 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF INNERMOST ASIA CH. I
river and the Pacific watershed in the south-east to the marshy lake-beds in which terminates the Etsin-gol, which carries the united waters of the rivers of Su-chou and Kan-chou.
As we descend through the northernmost Nan-shan range by valleys which moisture derived from the Pacific has clothed with plentiful forest, we come to a broad belt of fertile alluvial fans stretching along the foot of the range at an elevation of from about 5000 to 6500 feet. Owing to its favourable physical features, this belt was destined in history to become a very important `land of passage' between China and Central Asia.
IIIF Color HighRes
