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0637 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 637 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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four years earlier, had broken through the high sand
ridges of Yoghan-kum to the north and formed the head
of its new bed. The diversion had caused much trouble
to the shepherds; for the vegetation lower down on the
old bed was steadily drying up, and water along the former
grazing-grounds was obtainable only from deep wells.
The river bed I had seen in 1901 was completely dry,
but no dunes had yet gathered over it. This and the fact
that no vegetation whatever had sprung up as yet by the
new bed were significant proofs of the time needed to
mature the full results of these riverine changes. That
these changes were produced by the gradual silting up
of the beds, which forces the river after a period to seek
a new channel or to turn back into one long abandoned,
could be seen here quite clearly. No less than four
large river courses, all dry, diverged above Tonguz-baste,
and, no doubt, all in succession had taken generations to
develop their belts of jungle, whether now dead or still
struggling with the withering dryness. It all helped in
forming some estimate as to the length of the ages which
had seen the growth of the terrible desiccated delta now
happily left behind us.