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Khotan (pp. 123-235); see also Serindia, i.
pp. 90 sqq.; iii. 1273 sqq.

Great as the differences in elevation and
general configuration are between the several
zones which this sheet comprises, from the
Taklamakān sands up to the high K'un-lun
ranges, extreme aridity characterizes them
all. The vicinity of fertile loess soil to the
debouchure of the rivers accounts for the
large cultivated area in the main Khotan
oasis and for the string of minor oases stretch-
ing along the glacis of the outer hills
westwards and facilitating traffic. The
narrowness of the deep-cut valleys further
south confines irrigation, and hence cultiva-
tion, to small isolated patches barely sufficient
to maintain a few little settlements of hillmen,
such as Pusha, Nissa and Karanghu-tāgh
(C, D. 4.) In spite of the thick deposits of
fertile loess dust which the winds have
carried from the desert plains up to the
highest valleys, the aridity of the climate

reduces vegetation and grazing in these
mountains to very modest limits. Com-
munications through the mountains from
north to south are difficult and owing to the
impassable nature of the middle Kara-kāsh
valley confined to very few routes.

Corrections. Symbols of latitude station
to be added for Camps 55-61 of 1900-01 (as
per list below).

A. 1.—Sandy tract with scrub should
have been shown W. of Gūma as far as
Siligh-langar.

B. 2.—A belt of drift-sand ought to
have been marked at, and to the west of,
Bēl-kum, on route from Zanguya to Pialna.

B. 3.—The glaciers shown by R.B. Lāl
Singh on the northern slope of the range east
of the Sanju-dawān, near peaks not rising
much above 17,000 feet, are likely to be mere
snow-beds.

D. 4.—A small patch of cultivation
should have been entered at Omsha hamlet.

Astronomically observed latitudes.
1900-01. Khotan town Camp 42 (Ākhūn Bēg's garden in Tūwen-Gujan
suburb; D. 2) ... ... ... 37° 6′ 45″
Bizil, Camp 43 (Bēg's garden; D. 3) ... ... ... 36° 59′ 13″
Yagan-da-vān, Camp 55 (D. 3) ... ... ... 36° 31′ 30″
Yagan-aghzi, Camp 56 (C. 3) ... ... ... 36° 35′ 36″
Camp 57, below Kunat-dawān (D.3) ... ... ... 36° 42′ 50″
Ūlūgh-art, Camp 58 (S.W. of pass; C. 3) ... ... ... 36° 46′ 53″
Lānghrū, Camp 59 (near N.E. end of village; D. 3) ... ... 36° 55′ 52″
Ujat, Camp 61 (near left bank of river; D. 3) ... ... 37° 0′ 54″
1906-08. Pusha, Camp 42 (near Shamshel-mazār; C. 4) ... ... 36° 26′ 50″
Tashte-öghil, Camp 44 (in Kurat-jilga; C. 3) ... ... 36° 30′ 4″
Camp 46, below Ashpak (C. 3) ... ... ... 36° 39′ 5″

NOTES ON SHEET No. 10. (KARA-KORAM, KHITAI-DAWĀN)

With the exception of the route from
Shahidullah to the Kara-koram pass (A. 1),
the area comprised in this sheet was surveyed
at the close of the second expedition. It
shows interesting portions of the main K'un-
lun range near the triangulated peak 23,071
(Pk. 3/52M), where it bifurcates towards
Muz-tāgh (Pk. 1/61A) and the peaks near
the sources of the Yurung-kāsh river; ⁹ also
two of the drainageless basins of the Tibetan
uplands to the south.

For the construction of this sheet a
number of triangulated points were avai-
lable, ¹⁰ among them three determined in
the Kashmir G. T. series. Those shown

near the Kara-koram route are taken from
the work of Sir F. De Filippi's expedition,
together with the clinometrical heights of
peaks in A. 1. The value adopted for the
approximate snow-line, 18,000 feet, is deriv-
ed from the observations made near the
Turgap-Yangi-dawān and at the head of the Turgap-
jilga (C, D. 1). In A. 1 the limits of per-
petual snow have been indicated in accord-
ance with the map of Sir F. De Filippi's
expedition.

A description of the route followed and
of the ascent to the snowy col on the K'un-
lun watershed west of Peak 23,071 is given
in Desert Cathay, ii. pp. 463 sqq. For some