238 OVER THE KARA-KASH RANGES [cHAI. xIv.
desert, the river courses, and the belt of cultivated land. Where it touched the horizon, far away in the Taklamakan, the skyline showed a brilliant light green. Yet in height this cover of dusty atmosphere could scarcely exceed 1,000 ft. For we could clearly see the foot of the outer range rising above the bed of the Kara-kash where the latter winds through the low glacis-like plateaus stretching away northwards.
It was three in the afternoon when I arrived on this commanding height. It was manifest that no time remained for theodolite work, for which nature herself seemed to have destined the position, and that we should have to remain there for the night. The saddle on the main spur offered a convenient spot on which to place the camp, but the want of water was a difficulty. Fortunately I had foreseen this chance and sent Islam Beg ahead to Pujia, a village on the Karakash. He had orders to meet us on the pass with fresh ponies and a supply of water. So when my baggage arrived a little before sunset, the tents were pitched close below our survey station. Before this the plane-table had come up, and we eagerly searched the horizon southwards for points previously triangulated and shown on our section sheet.
This time my hopes were not to be disappointed. Having once determined our position on the plane-table, it was easy to recognise in a great ice-pyramid towering above the Kash valley glaciers the Kuen-luen Peak No. 1 of the Indian Survey, 21,750 feet high. Its position coincided most accurately with the direction indicated by our map. In the east the identity of another high landmark, the " Tartary Peak No. 2," was equally assured, and in order to dispel any lingering doubt, there appeared in a gap of the Iskuram range the glittering snowy top of a far more distant peak, exactly where the Survey tables place the " Kara-kash Peak No. 2," also reaching close to 22,000 feet. This rapid survey made it certain that it was possible to triangulate the surrounding region down to Khotan itself with assurance. The direct connection
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