in the bottoms of the three glens until it reaches points a couple of hundred meters above Basch-kurghan, and consequently it is only there that the vegetation is at all vigorous, indeed on the margins of the brooks it is even quite thick, namely grass and kamisch but it thins out rapidly as one advances up the dry glens, until there is nothing left except scanty scrub.
That part of the main range of the Astin-tagh which we now had before us on the south is called the Tschokuluk-tagh. To the south-east of Basch-kurghan it forms an imposing mass, and has a salt spring at its northern foot, beside which nevertheless an abundance of reeds grow, known as Kamisch-bulak — not to be confounded with the spring of this same name that I have previously mentioned. Between Basch-kurghan and the spring just alluded to the ground rises by a series of low, rounded crests and ridges of soft material of a bright yellow colour. Above the spring (Kamisch-bulak) there are said to be two passes, Arkarlik-davan and Tschokuluk-tus-davan, which however are of no importance and are only used by hunters. All the water of this region, whether originating from rain-showers, or from the melting of the snows, or issuing from natural springs, flows down into the basin of the Kara-koschun, although, as I have said, it hardly ever gets down as far as the lake itself. Thus we had crossed the lowest chain of the Astin-tagh without climbing over any pass, only by traversing the breach of the transverse glen of the Kurghan-
Hedin, Tourney in Central Asia. III. 3
IIIF Color HighRes
