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

there is practically no sign of the Tarim basin on Witsen's map, whereas the funda-
mental features of this region, especially its western part, on Strahlenberg's map very
much approach reality and surpass everything executed so far. He is even much
superior to Delisle's maps of 1705 and 1723, (Pl. XL and XLII), for while
Delisle knows only the Khotan-darya and makes it flow the wrong way, Strahlenberg
knows the following rivers: Axu (Aksu-darya), Tersik (Taushkan-darya), Kaschkar fl.
(Kashgar-darya), Melescha (Yarkand-darya), Choteen (Khotan-darya), Orankasch (Yurun-
kash), Karakaisch (Kara-kash), Tarimo (Tarim), Karia fl. (Keriya-darya), Tschikman
(Cherchen-darya?), Kipzak Darya (?), and Chaidu fl. (Khaidu-gol), or, in a word, all
the great rivers of the Tarim basin, though, of course, much was left to be desired
regarding their relative situation. He knows all the cities of the same region and
some villages as well, and places them as a rule in correct relation to each other,
for instance, not Kashgar south of Yarkand as Delisle had done. Or, to men-
tion only the most important: Kaschkar, Ierken, Sarikol, which has fallen too far
east, Kargalagga (Kargalik), Choteen, Karakaisch, Gurumkasch, Gumma (Gume),
Modsche (Muji), Karia, Gans (Gass-kul, which he believes is a city), Tarim, marked
as a city, Karaschai (Kara-shahr), Chialisch al: Uluk Iuldus, the Cialis of Goes and
older maps, Kitzik Iuldus (Little Yuldus), Axu, Baij, Arwat, Kutschai (Kuche, wrongly
placed in relation to Aksu), Utschferment (Uch-turfan), and, further east, many places
such as Turpan, Chamil, Lukzin (Lukshin, which Grum-Gshimailo found to be
situated below the surface of the sea), and many others. Curiously enough he has
no Lop and no Desertum Lop.¹ Three years later d'Anville completes Strahlen-
berg's hydrography eastwards by making the Yarkand-darya fall into Lop Nor.
Of the greatest interest to us is the way in which Strahlenberg has surrounded
Bucharea Minor or Eastern Turkestan with mountain ranges, and nobody will contra-
dict my saying that he has known both the Tian-shan and the Kwen-lun. The
eastern half of the latter he represents as a boundary between the Tibetan highlands
and Eastern Turkestan, as indeed is the case. Regarding its western half he com-
mits exactly the same mistake as Ptolemy, namely, to believe that the slopes falling
down to the southern margin of Eastern Turkestan and the slopes falling down to
the plains of Hindustan belonged to one and the same range, one single range
separating India from the Tarim basin.
Strahlenberg's eastern half of the Kwen-lun is therefore correct, while the
western half includes both Kwen-lun and Himalaya as well as everything else situated
between them, as for instance, Kara-korum and Transhimalaya. This western half
he calls Mus Tagk alias Imaus Mons.
His northern range, the Tian-shan, Strahlenberg calls Musart, and, quite cor-
rectly, he has Uramtza (Urumchi), and Barskol Lac. (Bar-kul) north of this range and