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0543 Southern Tibet : vol.7
Southern Tibet : vol.7 / Page 543 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000263
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CHAPTER XL.

SOME GERMAN GEOGRAPHERS ON THE MOUNTAINS
OF TIBET.

In 1891 Dr. Georg Wegener published his well-written monograph on the
orography and geology of the Kwen-lun System. He had till then never been in
Asia himself, but still his essay is a very important and complete compilation of
everything known about this mountain system.¹ We cannot enter upon it here as
it would take us too far, and the Kwen-lun is not a part of my object. Only one
or two passages in connection with the Kara-korum should be noted.

Dr. Wegener quotes Klaproth's audacious and correct opinion regarding
the continuation of the Kara-korum through the whole of Tibet, along the Tengri-
nor to the Samtan-gandza and farther north-eastward to the vicinity of 32° North.
lat.² Richthofen's theory regarding a great N. E. stretching mountain system was
confirmed by one of Montgomerie's Pundits, who returned with a general description
of the Nien-chen-tang-la, and Richthofen had just the opportunity to make use of
this discovery for his map (Pl. XXIV, in my Vol. III). Richthofen's interpretation of
the Pundit's discoveries was, however, as we know now, not correct. The Tang-la
is not a north-eastward stretching range. It takes part, just as does the Nien-chen-
tang-la, in the general west-east parallelism of the mountain ranges. And therefore
the map of Tr. Saunders (Pl. XXI, in my Vol. III), and the map in Andrées Hand-
atlas, 1881, were both wrong.

I have inserted here as Pl. LXVIII Dr. Wegener's map: Übersicht des Kwen-
lun Gebirges, which accompanies his monograph. It is of great value and interest
as a document showing the conclusions to which a student of the material existing
could arrive in 1891. We recognize the steep fall of the bordering Kwen-lun on
the boundary between Tibet and the Tarim Basin as it had been investigated by
Prshevalskiy. Starting from this mighty range a series of parallel wings stretch