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and the Etsin-gol basin is divided. The
chief physical features of these regions have
been indicated above in section vi of Chap-
ter ii, and brief reference to their extent and
character will suffice here.

The mountain region in the south clear-
ly shows the wide trough-like uplands at the
headwaters of the Su-lo-ho and the Su-chou
and Kan-chou rivers, as well as the tortuous
narrow gorges in which these rivers have cut
their way through the two northern ranges
of the Nan-shan. The increased moisture of
the climate eastwards is demonstrated by the
forest growth which the map shows at ele-
vations from about 8,000 to 10,000 feet in
the valleys approaching the watershed of the
Pacific drainage, as marked by the Ta-t'ung
river (C, D. 4).

In the same direction the change in the
character of the Richthofen Range, from a
steep mountain rampart into a system of
broad spurs with easier slopes at their top,
becomes noticeable. This change in the
lateral expansion of the Richthofen Range
determines the width of the second region,
that of the plateau-like belt stretching along
its northern foot. Owing to the line of
oases comprised in it this belt has formed an
important 'land of passage' all through
historical times.

At the north-western end of the belt we
have the large oasis of Su-chou, occupying the
Astronomically observed latitudes.
1906-08. Chia-yü-kuan, Camp 200 (near springs, south of eastern gate of
fort, A. 1) ... ... ... 39° 48′ 16″
Su-chou, Camp 201 (at Chiu-ch'üan temple, outside eastern gate
of city; B. 1) ... ... ... 39° 45′ 6″
Chin-fo-ssu, Camp 203 (garden, circ. 1 mile to south of eastern
gate; B. 2) ... ... ... 39° 25′ 27″
Ta-pên-kou, Camp 207 (gold miners' camp; B. 3) ... 38° 59′ 54″
Camp 211 (at spring near bed of southern tributary of Pei-ta-ho;
A. 3) ... ... ... 38° 54′ 54″
Camp 214 (above bed of rising Su-lo-ho; A. 4) ... 38° 29′ 28″
Camp 223 (on right river bank, north of Fêng-ta-fan; D. 3) 38° 38′ 31″
Chien-ch'üan-tzu, Camp 231 (D. 2) ... ... 39° 20′ 3″
1913-15. Su-chou, Camp 133 (at Chiu-ch'üan temple, outside eastern city
gate; B. 1) ... ... ... 39° 44′ 51″
Lo-t'o-ch'êng, Camp 165 (within ruined town; D. 2) 39° 20′ 59″

NOTES ON SHEETS Nos. 44,45 (ETSINGOL, ETSIN-GOL DELTA)

These two sheets may conveniently be
commented upon together as they combine to
show the course of the Etsin-gol from below
Mao-mei right down to its terminal lake

broad alluvial fans of the Pei-ta-ho and of
the smaller rivers which to the east of it
descend from the Richthofen Range. Fur-
ther east the width of the plateau at the
foot of the range is still great. But the lesser
volume of water carried by the streams
here draining it restricts the cultivated area
to a string of minor oases along their allu-
vial fans, from Chin-fo-ssu (B. 2) to Nan-
ch'üan (D. 2). The rest of the belt consists
here mainly of scrubby steppe, affording
ample winter grazing, with interspersed
areas of drift-sand (C, D. 1, 2). Beyond the
lower course of the Hsi-ta-ho (D. 2) a pro-
jecting outer spur of the range, bare and
much eroded, confines the plateau-like belt
to its narrowest limits near the town of
Kao-t'ai.

The northern edge of the second region
is formed throughout by a low and utterly
barren hill-range (A-D. 1), representing a
western extension of the Ala-shan. This
hill-range with its slopes of bare gravel or
sand shares throughout the character of the
Etsin-gol basin described in the Notes on
Sheets Nos. 44, 45. Cultivation stops above
the points where the rivers of Kan-chou
and Su-chou break through the desert range
(B. 1, D. 1) to unite further down near the
isolated oasis of Mao-mei (Sheet No. 42.
D. 4).

basins. The route in the extreme south-west
(45. A. 4) was fitted upon the position adopted
for Kan-chou (46. B. 3), and the rest of
the traverses in these sheets compiled on the