o f country from its natural sterility. The only other
river in the province calling for mention is the Kyzyl-
Su, which takes its rise at the very top of the watershed,
10,000 feet high, whence flow streams down
one of its slopes into the Oxus, and down the other
into Western Mongolia at Lob-Nor.
The lakes of the province are few in number. One
in the valley, centrally situated, is the Dam-Kul, about
14 miles long and rather less than half as broad. In
the southern hills, near Shakhimardan, M. Ujfalvy
visited the Lake Kutban-Kul in a valley covered with
immense blocks of stone, piled on one another as if
by art. He describes the water as dark-green in
results of the expedition were seep in the first charts ever made of the
A lai and Trans-Alai mountains, and the northern part of the Pamir,
the march route maps being based on well-determined points.
A third expedition, this time a scientific one, under the command of
M. M. N. Severtsoff, was sent in 1877 and 1878 to the Pamir, for its
exploration and geographical description, and for the investigation of
its geological relations to the Thian Shan range. The Kaufmann Peak
was determined to be 22,800 feet high, and the three-peaked mountain,
Gurumdy, to the east of it, 20,300 feet. The party explored not only
Kara-Kul, but the smaller lake, Riang-Kul, whence a good view is
obtained of the eastern ranges of the Pamir, in one of which the principal
summit rises to a height of about 26,800 feet, and is the highest peak of
the “ roof of the world.” On the Ak-Su river Severtsoff determined
barometrically the lowest elevation recorded in the Pamir— namely,
12,000 feet, and not far distant he came upon his first willow grove in
the region, at a height of 12,300 feet, whilst tamarisk bushes were met
with on the river up to 13,200 feet. In some of the swamps were found
very thick deposits of peat, and amongst the marsh plants composing
it were detected several northern species, the same as occur in the
neighbourhood of Petersburg. In fact, the vegetation of the region we
are considering presents an exceedingly unusual combination of Alpine
plants with those of the northern Tundras and the South Russian
steppes. In this flora are seen East Siberian, Tibetan, and Mongolian
species, intermingled with those of Western Siberia and the Persian
mountains. In addition to the variety of plants and insects, M. Severtsoff
found the Pamir rich in vertebrates; he met with more than 20
species of mammalia, about 120 species of birds, 6 of fishes, and
2 species of amphibia, in swamps 12,700 feet high.
appearance, calm and tranquil, surrounded on the north
and east by the aforesaid blocks, and on the other
sides by mountains, rising abruptly and covered with
perpetual snow. Six years previously to the visit of
M. Ujfalvy this lake had been discovered to science
by M. Fedchenko, after whom the French traveller
desired to call it Lake Fedchenko. The water is good
to the taste, and in it fresh-water trout are found.
The Kara-Kul is, however, the most remarkable in
the province, if not also the largest on the Pamir.
The approach thereto from the north is very picturesque,
surrounded as it is on all sides by snowy
mountains, some of which have glaciers.*
I have already alluded to the great variations of
temperature in the climate of this elevated portion of
Ferghana. I may add that in this same region the
winds are sometimes so terribly violent as to take away
the breath, driving before them snow, dust, and sand,
and causing the flocks to press together for safety.
The air in this locality is in general very dry, and of a
* The lake, at a height of 12,800 feet, is divided into two basins,
joined by a narrow strait, and the beauty of the scenery is heightened
by the peculiar shape of the'mountains, the dark blue appearance of the
lake waters, and the general tint of colour pervading the whole locality,
notwithstanding the comparative scantiness of vegetation. There are
not wanting tokens to show that the Kara-Kul, now extending over 115
square miles, was at one time much larger. The water now brought to
the lake by streams is insufficient to compensate for evaporation. Rain
is very rare, and the precipitation is nearly always in the form of hail or
snow. Before Kostenko’ s visit maps represented the Kara-Kul as sending
off its waters either to the Oxus or to the river of Kashgar, or both,
from which last, according to R6clus, it received from the Chinese the
appellation of the Dragon Lake, as if they would compare it to a monster
with two heads. It is doubtful, however, if it ever gave off water in
the direction of Kashgar, though in times of flood it has not quite
ceased to overflow towards the Oxus. A s a stream rarely runs out of
the Kara-Kul, evaporation has rendered the waters saline ; magnesian
salts making them so bitter that animals drink them unwillingly, though