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g 848.991
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AN EXPEDITION INTO THE
CENTRAL TIAN-SHAN MOUNTAINS
CARRIED OUT IN THE YEARS 1903-1903
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KHAN-TENGRI (about 23,6oj FT.), TAKEN FROM A POINT (ABOUT 15,000 FT ) ON ITS BASE ON
THE UPPER INYLCHEK GLACIER (MUCH FORESHORTENED). SOUTHERN AND SOUTH-
WESTERN SLOP*.
[rroMiisf>i€ct.
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m
i
a-
AN
CHER
OF THE
LE STREET, W.
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KM
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THE CENTRAL TIAN-SHAN
MOUNTAINS
1902-1903
BY DR. GOTTFRIED MERZBACHER
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1905
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PRINTED BT
HAZBLL, WATSOH AHD VINIT, LD.,
LONDON AND ATLE8BURY.
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^ CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . i
CHAPTER I
FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NARYNKOL AND THROUGH THE
MUXUR^MUTU VALLEVS .,..,. IP
CHAPTER tl
THE VALLEY OF BAVUMKOL 19
CHAPTER III
THE SA%V-JAS$ VALLEV AND THE SEMENOFF GLACIER . 36
CHAPTER IV
TO THE INYLCHEK GLACIER AND FARTHER SOUTH . . 60
CHAPTER V
FROM THE KAFKAK VALLEV TO THE GREAT MUSART VALLEV 76
CHAPTER VI
NORTHERN MUSART VALLEY, MUSART PASS, AND SOUTH KRK
MUSART VALLEY *-.-.,.* ^i
CHAPTER VII
FROM THE MUSART VALLEY TO KASHGAR * * , , 99
145504
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vi CONTENTS
CHAPTER VIII
PAGE
EXCURSIONS ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIAN-SHAN TO
COLLECT PALABONTOLOGICAL MATERIALS IO3
CHAPTER IX
THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN BETWEEN KASHGAR
AND UCH-TURFAN Ill
CHAPTER X
TO THE KHALYK-TAU AND BACK TO UCH-TURFAN . I26
CHAPTER XI
THE SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS — ^THE ALLEGED AND
THE ACTUAL BREACH, FORCED BY THE NORTHERN
WATERS 139
CHAPTER XII
THE SABAVCHY GLACIER I5I
CHAPTER XIII
THE KUKURTUK VALLEY I58
CHAPTER XIV
FROM THE KUKURTUK VALLEY TO THE BEDEL VALLEY
AND OVER THE BEDEL PASS TO THE NORTH . 166
CHAPTER XV
THE WATERSHED BETWEEN NARYN AND SARY-JASS AND THE
PASSAGE OF THE SOUKA PASS TO LAKE ISSYK KUL • 1 76
CHAPTER XVI
SURVEYING ON THE SEMENOFF AND MUSHKETOFF GLACIERS 185
CHAPTER XVII
SECOND VISIT TO THE INYLCHBK GLAaER, AND DISCOVERY
OF THE TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI . . . I93
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CONTENTS vu
CHAPTER XVIII
FAOB
OVER THE ACHAILO PASS TO THE KAYNDY GLAaSR . . 217
CHAPTER XIX
FROM THE KAYNDY VALLEY OVER THE UCH-5HAT PLATEAU
TO THE KOI-KAF 225
CHAPTER XX
THROUGH THE KAYNDY VALLEY TO THE SARY-JASS AND
INYLCHEK AND BACK TO THE TEKES .... 237
CHAPTER XXI
TO THE BAYUMKOL AGAIN AND THEN TO THE LITTLE
MUSART VALLEY. . . . . . 245
CHAPTER XXII
VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES 254
CHAPTER XXIII
THE DONDUKOL VALLEY AND THE NORTHERN MUSART
VALLEY AGAIN 263
CHAPTER XXIV
OVER THE TEMURLIK-TAU TO KULJA 272
CHAPTER XXV
SUMMARY 276
NOTES CONCERNING THE MAP .... 283
INDEX 287
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
KHAN*TK!fCRl, SOUTHERN AJH) SOUTH-WESTERN SLOPE
TELEFHOTOGRAPHIC VIEW OF KHAK-TBNGftI .
TR» ■* MARBLE WALL/* OR PEAK NICHOLAS IfnCHATLOVlCH
TELEPHOTOGRAPHIC VIEW OF THE SUMMIT OF KHAN-TENGRl
TELEPHOTOCRAPHIC VIEW OF KULU-TAU
VIEW FROM A PLATEAU BETWEEN THE SAJtY-JASS AND TYS-ASHO
VALLEYS ,..,.,
PEAK IN THE SOUTHERN BORDER* RANGE OF THE IF^YLCHEK VALLEY
JIPARLIK GLACIER . ^ , . ,
IN THE U?PBR TEREK VALLE? (KHALYK-TAU)
PEAK EAST OF JANAET PASS ....
EASTERN MARGIN OF JAN ART PASS , ,
ISSUE OF KUM-ARYK FROM ITS GORGE .
SA2AVCHV GLACIER, DEROUCHING OP A LATERAL GLACIER FROM
NORTH 'EAST ......
MOUNT CAT HER INS, IN THE BORKOLDAI RANGE
CHAIN lORD&RlNG MUSHKETOFF GLACIER Off ITS SOUTH
LAKE KARA-KUL-SAY .,,..»
FARTING OF INYLCKEK GLACIER
SUMMIT OF KHAN-TRNGRIj NORTH-WESTERN SLOPE *
HEAD OF KAYNOY GLACIER , . > .
VIEW TO THl HEAD OF SAIKAL VALLEY, FROM A RtDCE
EASTERN 8AYUMK0L GLACIER
Fro»fisfii4a
Facing pagt
26
28
62
IN THE
64
66
90
144
14S
IS6
176
190
158
19S
22a
246
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M EXPEDITION INTO THE CENTRAL
TIAN-8HAN, IN THE TEAE8 1902
AND 1903
PRELIMINARY NARRATIVE
INTRODUCTION
When in 1892, on a journey into Central Asia,
I first made acquaintance with a small portion
of the Central Tian-Shan, I received, even by
a mere flying visit, abiding impressions of its
magnificent mountain chains. Later on, these
impressions were renewed through reading the
masterly descriptions of the celebrated Tian-
Shan pioneer, P. P. Semenoff, and through study
of the reports of his successors, N. A. Severzoff
and J. W. Mushketoff, who have earned for
themselves high honour by their researches. The
desire was accordingly kindled in me to gain more
accurate insight into the highest regions of this
mountain chain and its glaciers, and also to con-
tribute somewhat to their exploration.
Extensive travels, however, in other mountain
1
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2 INTRODUCTION
lands and labours of large compass in other fields
barred the way for ten years to the gratification
of my desire. At length in January, 1902, during
my stay in the Russian capital, the initiatory steps
were taken. There, encouraged by the assured
support of the Imperial Russian Geographical
Society, especially its President, his Imperial
Highness the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich,
and its Acting President, Senator P. P. Semenofi^,
I determined to start that year on my travels
into the Tian-Shan. SemenoflTs valued counsels
and the study of the rich Russian literature on that
moimtain chain, handed over to me most oblig-
ingly by the Secretary of the Imperial Russian
Geographical Society, Prof. Grigorieff, confirmed
me in my opinion that one summer would not
suffice for the accomplishment of any substantial
result in the high regions of the Central Tian-
Shan, so extensive and so difficult of access, but
that, first and foremost, experience would have
to be gathered respecting the technical difficulties,
awaiting the explorer in ice-and-snow regions of
quite a unique type. From the first, therefore,
I was resolved to devote at least two years to
the enterprise.
Our knowledge of the orographical and geo-
logical structure and of the flora and fauna of
the Tian-Shan has been enriched by many eminent
Russian explorers. Its highest regions, however,
buried in snow and ice, had hitherto remained
but very imperfectly known. A more thorough
exploration was needed to answer the many
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THREE PRIME REQUISITES 8
questions, respecting the structure of the central
parts, which a glance into the existing maps at
once called forth, and to throw light on many
dark points in the later history of the mighty
configuration of the chain. Our knowledge,
again, of the glaciers of Central Tian-Shan has
been greatly increased, more particularly by the
explorations of A. W. von Kaulbars, and by the
expedition of I. W. Ignatie£f and A. M. Krassno£f,
fraught in many respects as it was with important
results. There still, however, remained much,
particularly in respect of the largest glaciers,
craving elucidation. In order to explore extensive
glacier regions and their environment, and to
unravel the complex structiu-e of the parts not
easily surveyable, it is necessary to follow up the
glacier valleys to their head and to climb peaks
of great elevation with a view to obtaining a
comprehensive plan and orientation. For such a
task three prime requisites were wanting to my
predecessors : practice, experience, and outfit. It
seemed to me therefore imperative to enlist
" Alpinism " in the service of geographical science
in the Tian-Shan, in accordance with the example
of so many travellers of brilliant accomplishment
in other regions of lofty mountains. I accord-
ingly invited to join me in my enterprise one
of the best approved of modem Alpinists, the
engineer Hans Pfann, of Munich, a truly valu-
able aid, and further engaged a young and
vigorous Tyrolese mountain guide, to whom, the
following year, was added a second guide.
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4 INTRODUCTION
By way of special provision for the geological
service of the expedition, and with a view to
amassing a palaeontological collection, I secured
the assistance of a young and energetic geologist,
not to be daunted by difficulties in the ground
to be surmounted. Prof. Steinmann, of Freiburg,
Baden, was good enough to recommend to me
one of his pupils and assistants, the young
geologist Herr Hans Keidel, who on my invita-
tion joined the expedition. With the trusty
support of such assistants I might hope to obtain
some data of value in the service of science.
Unfortunately the time assigned to the pre-
paration of an undertaking of such compass,
extending over so long a period, for procuring
and testing the indispensable instruments,
apparatus, and manifold outfit, was all too scantily
allotted. Only by dint of feverish exertion and
the active help of self-sacrificing friends, among
whom I will name only the celebrated mountain
photographer, Cavaliere Vittorio SeUa of Biella
and the Caucasian explorer, M. von Ddchy in
Odessa, was the expedition for 1902 set on foot
in tolerable time, though, indeed, several weeks
later than desirable.
In this report, written in Tashkent, immediately
after the return of the expedition from the
moimtains,^ it is of course impossible for me to
' This report was despatched from Tashkent on April 18th,
1904^ long before the publication of the narratives of Dr. Fried-
richsen (^' Forschungsreisen in den Central Han-schan a. Dsnnga-
rischen Ala-tan " : MUtkeihmgen der OeographUchen OeselUchaft in
Hamborg, Bd. XX. August 1904) and 8igr. Giulio Brocherel ('' In Asia
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PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT 5
render an exact account of all the work done
throughout this long and toilsome journey,
or to communicate all the observations of
scientific interest. The purpose of this report
is rather to give particulars of the itinerary
of the expedition and a general narrative of its
experiences, especially those new or hitherto
unknown. The more elaborate digest, embody-
ing comprehensive deductions, must be reserved
to a later date after the rich collections, amassed
by the expedition, have been scientifically exam-
ined and arranged ; this latter task will, however,
presumably claim a lengthened period of time.
Accordingly, the more detailed report of the
journey, for which Herr Keidel has undertaken
the elaboration of the geological and geotectonic
part, can hardly be published till a somewhat
remote date. It seemed therefore advisable to
give in the preliminary report rather more than
a bare enumeration of data and to render it at
least a provisional picture of the districts traversed.
In this report I have endeavoured more particularly
to embody observations on the present and past
glacier conditions of the Tian-Shan and on
peculiarities in the physical features of its valley
Centrale " : BoUettino delta SocieUL Oeografica ItaUana : July 1904), when
I had not the slightest knowledge of the results of the former or even
of the routes followed hjr the Italian ezpeditioti. Hence no reference
to either publication will be found in the present report^ the appearance
of which would have been too long delayed, had I attempted to
incorporate comparative notes after my return. Moreover, I was
quite unaware, when writing my report, that several valleys and
localities, to which I had every reason to suppose mine to be the
first viait, had been previously reached by the Italian expedition.
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6 INTRODUCTION
formations; subjects to which, throughout the
expedition, my attention was specially directed.
On the other hand, in order not to give to the
report a compass which would retard its publication,
botanical, zoological, and climatological observations
will have to be almost wholly omitted.
The quoted figures incorporated in the report
will of course be taken as of only approximate
validity, and are stated in round numbers, seeing
it will require some considerable time till the
different calculations in question have been com-
pleted. The various heights given will be accepted
as having only at most an approximate validity
relatively to one another.
On May 15th I left Munich, accompanied by
Herren Hans Pfann and Hans Keidel, joined at
Vienna by the previously engaged moimtain guide,
Franz Kostner, of Corvara ; we thence repaired to
Odessa, whither had been despatched the larger
part of the luggage. Here we were detained a
few days in complying with the Custom-house
formalities and takir^ over the provisions of con-
serves, biscuit, etc., which, thanks to friendly
assistance, were already awaiting us. Owing to
the fact that the Imperial Russian Ministry of
Finance had obligingly granted free entry to
my outfit, instruments, apparatus, etc., the trans-
actions with the Custom-house were rapidly settled.
The stay, moreover, in Odessa till the departure
of the steamer was made gratefid to us by the
amiable hospitalities of the noted explorer, M.
von D^chy, and of the Crimea-Caucasian Mountain
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ASSISTANCE FROM RUSSIA 7
Club and its most courteous and helpfid President,
Prof. Ilovaisky.
On May 25th we landed at Batum, and thence
proceeded to Tiflis, where we were again delayed
a few days. There I received maps, most kindly
left for me by the chief of the Topographical
Department of the Ordnance staff in St. Peters-
burg, Lieut.-General von Stubendorf. There, too,
all my instruments were retested at the Observatory.
At Tiflis I had the high honour of a reception
from the President of the Imperial Russian Geo-
graphical Society, his Imperial Highness the
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich. As his
Imperial Highness had in Petersburg facilitated for
me the introductory steps to the expedition, he
took a warm interest also in its development and
assured me of his further assistance.
After being joined at Tiflis by the Preparator,
E. Russel, of Piatigorsk, the expedition next pro-
ceeded, vid Baku, to Ejrasnovodsk, and then, by
the Trans-Caspian railway, to Tashkent. There, in
consequence of letters of recommendation from the
Imperial Russian Ministry of Foreign A flairs and
War, and thanks to the letter of accreditation of
the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, I met
with the friendliest reception from his Excellency
the Governor-General of Turkestan, Lieut.-
G^neral Ivanofil In the most handsome manner
oflicial papers were given me, ensuring me the
support of aU authorities in the Russian lands to
be traversed by me.
Seeing the expedition was to extend over two
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8 INTRODUCTION
years, the provisions and materials of different
kinds had to be divided, and the part intended for
the second year packed and forwarded to Kashgar.
Thanks to the active support of my revered friend
Herr R. Schubert in Tashkent, this and other
affairs were happily disposed of. On June 9th,
therefore, the expedition of five persons, now
hea\dly encumbered with luggage, was enabled to
enter on its lumbering tarantass-passage through
the Central Asiatic steppes.
While I was on my way alone from Pishpek,
which I left on June 18th, to Vemoie, there to
present myself to the District Governor of
Semirechensk, his Excellency Lieut -General
lonoff, and to receive from him special letters
of introduction to the authorities under his
administration, Herren Pfann and Keidel made an
excursion to the Alexander Mountains, climbing
one of the highest peaks. Meanwhile, under
charge of Kostner and Russel, the heavy luggage
was farther carried by Dunganian carters to
Przhevakk. On June 24th I rejoined my fellow-
travellers in Tokmak, whence our march lay
along the north bank of Lake Issyk Kul to
Przhevalsk. There I had the pleasure of en-
countering the expedition of Prof. Saposhnikoff,
of Tomsk, and its members, among them Dr.
M. Friedrichsen, of Hamburg. Friendly greetings
were exchanged. At first I was under some
apprehensions, lest the Russian expedition and
mine might clash in their respective routes through
the high mountains — a contretemps which in the
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TWO EXPEDITIONS 9
interest of science would be all the more regret-
table, inasmuch as in the extensive and little-
explored Tian-Shan there was ample room for the
exploratory enterprise of more than one expedition.
At once Prof. Saposhnikoff frankly communi-
cated to me his progranune, and we found that
our routes would only cross each other in the
Sary-jass valley at the foot of the SemenoflF glacier.
Asy moreover, the Russian expedition had assigned
to that strip of the mountain chain no more than
a few days — quite insufficient for a thorough
exploration of the Semenoff glacier, included as
an essential item in my programme — my appre-
hensions were happily shown to be groundless.
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CHAPTER I
FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NARYNKOL AND THROUGH
THE MUKUR-MUTU VALLEYS
A SERIOUS drawback to the progress of our
expedition was the delay for nearly a week of
the arrival of our luggage at Przhevalsk. Not
till July 2nd was our advance by the San-tash
pass to Karkara begun. In crossing the pass
(7,200 ft. ; 2,155 m.) made known to the world
by SemenoiFand Serverzoff, we had the opportunity
of gathering in our first carboniferous fossils in the
Tian-Shan. On the descent of the pass, which
leads through extensive tertiary deposits, one
comes up on the first indications of glacier forma-
tion in this region: porphyry granite and syenite
blocks transported thither by ice from the heights
of Kungeu and Kuuluk-Tau. Soon after, on the
descent from the tertiary sandstone heights at
Taldy-bulak, the wide, green-mantled, ancient lake-
floor of Karkara (6,000 ft.) is seen below, encom-
passed on the south by a long, many-peaked,
calcareous chain (Bash-ogly-tagh), bearing on it
small glaciers, and towering above the lake-floor
to a height of 4,500 ft. (1,200 m.). On its
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A TEMPORARY TOWN 11
margin the ancient lake-terraces are in good
preservation.
On the north and north-west the wide basin is
enclosed by low, flat tertiary ridges, offshoots of
the Chul-adyr, behind which crop up here and
there the much more considerable heights of
Ketmen-Tau. On the south-west edge of the
basin, in these tertiary deposits, considered
hitherto deprived of fossils, Herr Keidel had
the rare good fortune to collect a small fauna,
which may prove of great importance for the
determination of a part at least of these tertiary
deposits.
Alpine meadows, dressed in flora of surpassing
beauty, adorn the wide, high-lying floor, strewn
with debris. In its midst there rises up every
year, from May to October, a spacious town of
metal houses and wooden booths — ^the famous
yearly market, that is of such great importance
to the extraordinarily numerous Kirghiz population
of the Tekes, Chalkody-su, Kegen, and Charyn
region. Thousands of Kirghiz tents collect in
a wide circle around the wooden town. This
is the mart where the Kirghiz exchange their
products of wool, hides, sheep, and horses for the
manufactured goods, exposed for sale by dealers
mostly of Tartar race. Here, in a secluded green
Alpine bottom, completely withdrawn from the
highways of the world, walled in by mountain
chains glittering in glacier snow, the traveller may
admire a lively tumult of business and contemplate
modes of commerce, belonging to an epoch of
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12 FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NARYNKOL
culture, unknown for centuries past in Europe.
Here he may study scenes of a picturesque charm,
not to be easily surpassed anywhere else. During
the four months of the yearly market the seat
of the administrative authorities of the r^ons in
question is transferred to this spot It thus
happened that the head of the Narynkol district,
J. I. Likhanoff, on whom depended the future
fate of the expedition, had his official seat at this
odd market-town. Here the greater part of the
riding- and packhorses, as also the saddles, covers,
headgear, etc., appertaining thereto, had to be
bought. Here, too, a number of Kirghiz " Jigits "
(troops serving for escort) familiar with the moun-
tain routes and some porters from the discharged
Narynkol Kossacks had to be engaged. The safe
transport of later supplies of provisions to the
high mountain regions and many other matters
had to be settled. Thanks to the energetic support
of Herr Likhanoff, these affairs were satisfactorily
disposed of in a few days.
On July 7th I was able to continue my march
to the Kossack village of Narynkol (Okhotnichi).
The way thither leads from the luxuriant grass-
plains of the ancient lake-basin, over the adjacent
undulating high plains, into a spacious green
landscape, the configuration of which is throughout
due to former ice-action. The peaks of the long,
much curved mountain chains, Bash-ogly-tagh
and Kapyl-Tau, shooting up in the south are
intersected by wide, trough-shaped, high-lying
valleys, each of which is occupied by a small
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A GREAT VALLEY 18
field of nev^ and a small glacier. As may be
distinctly perceived, these are only the remains
of fonner ice-currents of considerable extent, the
course of which may be satisfactorily traced by
the ground, lateral and terminal moraines re-
maining intact and now coated over with vegeta-
tion. All superficial forms, characteristic of a
landscape vacated by the ice, even drumlins,
may here be observed. On a second visit to this
district, the way led me into a larger lateral
valley (Bash-kara-bulak), where I had the oppor-
tunity of more closely examining these typical
forms of a vanished glacial epoch, and to follow
them into the cauldron-shaped hollows of the
mountain chain, where great masses of glacier
snow once rested.
Beyond Sary-jass-tuty station you leave the
river-bed of the Chalkody-su, and, crossing the
mountain chain through the glen of Tute, enter
the uppermost valley of the Tekes. On the way
the traveller, viewing the circular wall of the
mountain chain, is already impressed by a feature
characteristic of the Central Asiatic mountains
and especially the Tian-Shan. The mouths of the
great transverse valleys of older origin are always
wide and their floor at the same level as that of
the principal valley. This is due to the enormous
amount of d^ris piled on the latter in a region
poorly drained, and covering the base of the margin
of the mountain chain.
The farther march to Narjmkol is confined
almost entirely to the region of the tertiary
Digitized by LjOOQIC
14 FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NARYNKOL
formation and of the younger river and lake
deposits. Only a stage distant, however, in the
above-mentioned glen of Tute, you cross a
zone of quartz-porphyries and hornblend-por-
phyries, at the foot of which lie the tertiary
deposits.
On July 9th the expedition entered Staniza
Narynkol (6,200 ft ; 1,760 m.), lying near the
northern foot of the first lower chain of the Central
Tian-Shan, hard by the Chinese frontier. This
place served for a length of time as headquarters
for the explorations in the high mountains. Seeing
our arrival took place three weeks later than had
been planned, there was no time to lose if any
results were yet to be harvested in what was
left of the short summer.
Herr Keidel took in hand the investigation of
the tertiary formation of the Tekes plain, and
of the carboniferous limestones, towering up behind
it. On July 10th I made my first mountain
excursion, and, with Herr Pfann, the Tyrolese
Kostner, and a Kossack from the Tekes valley,
rode some twenty versts (thirteen English miles)
down to the mouth of a transverse valley, cutting
in a southward direction into the mountain chain,
a valley known by the name of Mukur-mutu.
Between the great transverse vaUeys of the Great
and the Little Musart rivers, which, in an approxi-
mately southern course, cut into its northern slope,
the great chain is again divided, principally by
three short transverse valleys, filled with exceed-
ingly dense pine-forest— the Mukur-mutu valleys —
Digitized by CjOOQIC
KUTINGY 15
which, after short courses, terminate in an extensive
high plateau region. The Kalmuck population
of the Tekes vaUey understand in general, under
the name of the Mukur-mutu, the whole slope of
the mountain chain between Little and Great
Musart with aU the transverse valleys, intersecting it.
According to this acceptation, Mukur-mutu would
therefore designate the region which to the east
and the west of the great valleys named is bounded
on the south and south-east by the valleys of
Maralty and Dondukol, and on the south-west by
Uertenty valley : valleys of which, later on, there
will be much to say. The district is known by
the name also of Kutingy. I was here able at once
to assure myself that the delineation of the whole
of this strip of land in the forty- verst map does
not suggest even a remote idea of the reality.
Of the Mukur-mutu valleys, for example, only
one is shown, and that, too, just three times longer
than its actual course. In the high plateau region
in which the Mukur-mutu valleys originate erosion
has caused only broad channels of little depth.
The many-peaked chains, walling in the head
waters of all above-mentioned valleys, form likewise
the verge of the plateau mass, which on its turn
swells up into some dome-shaped heights. By the
forty- verst map it looks, as though Khan-Tengri
towered up here in the southern enclosing , wall
of the plateau, and to make sure of the fact was
the motive to this excursion. We wandered but
a short distance through the most western
of the Mukur-mutu valleys — ^their mouth about
Digitized by LjOOQIC
16 FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NAKYNKOL
6,400 ft. (1,850 m.) high — and soon turning sharp
eastwards, we made a very steep climh over slopes
wooded and carpeted with Alpine meadows of
unsurpassable luxuriance, displaying a marvellous
Alpine flora over old ground moraine-deposits.
After some time craggy ranges of slabby rose-
coloiu^ granite break through the steep, abraded
beds of schist and the soft forms of the green-
clad diluvial deposits covering them, and you
mount to a stage of the plateau, where we en-
camped at a height of about 7,700 ft Thence
we turned southward and ascended to a far higher
stage of the plateau, and there soon reached a
zone of dark, richly fossiliferous, dense limestones.
Without undergoing a high degree of crystal-
lisation, these limestones, along with the stratified
granites cropping up between them, have been
subjected to enormous pressure, so that most of
the organic inclusions were crushed beyond identi-
fication and also transformed into silicates, of which,
too, but very little is to be obtained. The booty
gathered was therefore small. On a second visit,
the following year, to the valley, we were fortunate
enough to pick up, at another spot, a somewhat
better collection, from which the age of the lime-
stones was determined to be lower carboniferous.
These dense, dark limestones alternate with light-
coloured and somewhat granular calcareous slates,
and, farther on, with red argillaceous-calcareous
slates. The whole series follows the dip of the
granites (average direction N. by 85° E.), which
in their turn, follow, farther to the south-east, on
Digitized by LjOOQIC
TELEPHOTOGRAPHIC VIEWS 17
the limestones. The series varies m its course,
however, very much, and higher up, passes into
an ahnost opposite direction. There you find
yom-self in a region of dislocation. A beautiful
cauldron caused by subsidence, with a little lake
at its bottom, still lies on the boundary between
the granites and limestones in this latter formation.
Higher up, a part of the calcareous mass, composing
the plateau seems to have subsided to a consider-
able length, in a southward direction towards a
trenchlike depression, the axis of which, directed
east-south-east, is the axis followed by the high
valley of Maralty, cutting transversely through
the plateau. A more detailed description of
this interesting region would exceed the limits
of this preliminary report. Be it only added
that the spot where the better preserved fossils
are to be found, lies exactly in a plain of
fracture.
We mounted one of the highest dome-shaped
protuberances of the plateau (about 11,000 ft ;
8,400 m.), there photographed the magnificent peaks
of the Uertenty valley, and took telephotographic
views of the high-peaked, ice-covered chain which
is planted in front of and parallel to the main
ridge here trending east-south-east. Of this main
ridge only a few elevations could be seen, towering
up behind the parallel chain. Did Khan-Tengri rise
at the spot, where in the forty-verst map and in
all other maps, it is represented, its pyramid must
inevitably have been seen from our standpoint.
All we learned by our excursion was therefore only
2
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18 FROM PRZHEVALSK TO NARYNKOL
the confirmation of the opinion, previously sag-
gesteif namely, that in this cardinal point the maps
were all of them at fault. The task therefore
devolved on us to determine the actual situation
of Khaa-TengrL
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CHAPTER II
THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
The first advance made towards the solution
of this problem led us into the large transverse
valley of Bayumkol (wrongly named by some
travellers Karakol and Biankol). The axial
direction of this valley, some forty miles long,
changes many times from the spot, where the
river bursts forth from the mountain chain; the
valley cleaves its way through the high land in
an approximately southern direction, but afterwards
bends round to the south-east, then to the east-
south-east. It next again takes a southern direction
and, at its termination, bifurcates into two branches ;
one trending south and south-west, the other south-
east, both of them occupied by considerable glaciers
and surrounded by chains wholly covered with
glaciers. The peaks of these chains are among the
highest of the Central Tian-Shan, rising to 20,000 ft.
and more. These chains form part of the central
watershed of the Tian-Shan. The river, rushing
in large volume down the valley, takes, on issuing
from the mountains into the vast basin-shaped
expansion of the Tekes valley, at first an eastern
direction, flowing through the capacious basins of
19
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20 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
two ancient border-lakes, once connected. Of one
of these lakes of late tertiary age the margins, com-
prised of sandstones, sandy clay and slate beds, are
in excellent preservation. The stream next strikes
north-north-east by the Staniza Narjmkol, and at
last, taking a northerly course, reaches the Tekes.
Our way, therefore, into the mountain valley led us
through a depression beginning some twelve miles
up the river. This depression, in the neighbour-
hood of the Staniza Narynkol, is marshy and hedged
round by a broad belt of dense high-grown bush.
In this thicket, through which our road led us,
there were buzzing millions of gadflies. These set
upon my horses, which had just been brought
down from the cool mountain meadows, with
such fierceness that, becoming restless, they dis-
placed their burdens, and so, getting scared, some
of them took to flight. In a twinkling the others
aU followed their example. In less than a minute
all the twelve packhorses, throwing off their
loads and dragging their girths after them, bolted
in mad gallop in all directions all over the wide
steppe and through its thickets, continually kicking
at the packages with their hind legs. Instruments,
apparatus, provisions — everything was flung to the
winds. Speechless with horror, I looked on at
the spectacle. Should the altogether indispensable
articles of outfit, more particularly the instruments
and apparatus, be smashed, many months would
be needed to make up for the loss. The ex-
pedition would be wrecked at its threshold. The
cases of a number of packages were burst open
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A STAMPEDE 21
under the horses' hoofs, and their contents,
especially the boxes of preserves, flung higgledy-
piggledy among the tall grass of the steppe.
While some of the " Jigits" and Kossacks hurried
after the runaway animals, the others searched
among bush and grass for the packages. After
a time it appeared that the scare was worse
then the scath, and that I had got rather cheaply
out of the disaster. The most valuable articles
were found to be all of them undamaged. Help
came from Narjmkol, whither I had despatched
a messenger. The horses were caught and brought
back ; the damaged cases, straps, etc. were
hastily mended. After the loss of five hours
the caravan was again ready for the march.
It was some time, however, before I recovered
from the shock.
So soon as the enclosed basin just mentioned,
about foiur and half miles long, had been left in
our rear by a narrow passage in its enclosing wall,
we entered another basin, much more extensive
still, whose northern environment is formed by a
moderately high calcareous range. The tertiary
lacustrean deposits of the enclosing wall of the
basin we had just left are continued along the foot
of the calcareous range in a series of terraces. In
this calcareous wall, exactly opposite the mouth
of the Bajrumkol valley, and at the north end
of the lake-basin, three and one-third miles broad,
there is noticeable a gatelike breach, through
which there now flows, in a straight course north-
wards to the Tekes, the inconsiderable streamlet
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22 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
Ukurchy. On the other hand, instead of con-
tinuing its northern course, to which in the wide
plain there is no opposing obstacle, and thereby
reaching the rocky gate in the north and so
making a direct passage to the Tekes, the
Bayiimkol river, on issuing from the mountain
chain, all at once bends to the east. It there-
upon forthwith encounters a calcareous cliff,
Tas-tepe, barring its path, and which it is bound
to break through. It has sawn out a deep bed in
the calcareous rocks at the edge of the mountain
chain in order to be able to continue its farther
course east, north-east, and north, till at last it
reaches the Tekes. What could induce the river
to make this complicated journey ? Evidently
in former times it had taken a straight course
to the north across the plain and through the
breach, which it had once itself effected. This
continued to be its course till in the ice age
either masses of ice or boulder-deposits blocked
the passage and compelled it to take an eastern
course. To the importance of the former glacier
age the ancient masses of moraines lying on the
skirts of the mountain ranges in the Tekes valley
give testimony. In their form and arrangement
I was able to read that the ice masses in the
past, pushed forward from the mountain chain,
had flooded the crest of the first border chain.
The mouth of the Ba3rumkol valley is about
four-fifths of a mile wide ; the bottom lies at the
same level {vide p. 18) with that of the princi-
pal valley (about 7,000 ft), and, owing to the
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ANCIENT TERMINAL MORAINES 28
enormous masses of deposit, piled on the ancient
floor, it rises at a quite moderate incline (about
174 ft. per mile). The valley spreads into
basins as much as a mile in width, and separated
from one another by contractions of no more
than 1,100 ft. Most of these expansions con-
tained lakes, dammed by the ancient terminal
moraines, which, in the period of the successive
retreat of the earlier glacier, got thrown up, one
behind the other. Only in the case of two of
these expansions could I make out other causes
for their origin. One, near the mouth of the
valley of the Ak-kul, has without doubt been
formed, or at least developed, by lateral erosion
of the valley river. Another, at the mouth of
the lateral valley Tyr-asha, arose in consequence
of a fault between limestones and chloritic
slates.
Of most of the ancient terminal morames, only
inconsiderable remains are preserved. Only two
of them still block up the valley as enormous
walls. One is at the mouth of the lateral valley
of Alai-aigyr, which, running eastwards, affords
access to the Saikal valley (Little Musart). The
other is at the mouth of the Kenem-begu valley,
which leads west to a col, giving access into the
Ashu-t)rr valley. Both moraines, each of them over
the third of a mile broad, owe their preservation
to mighty mountain-slips, rolled down and cover-
ing to a great extent the moraine walls, one of
the mountain-slips being of granite, the other
of phyllitic rock. Where these vast masses of
Digitized by LjOOQIC
24 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
blocks rest, atmospheric influences and the
strength of waters, endeavouring to clear away
the morainic walls were spent in vain. The
river was obliged to force a passage at both
places in a deep ravinelike glen, where, to all
appearance, it resumed and deepened the bed it
had occupied before the ice age. Besides these
two monumental witnesses to the once mighty
glacier conditions of the valley, evidence to the
same fact is to be found also in the form of high-
lying polished rocks and in the heaps of moraine
d^ris or terraces of glacial rubble along the walls
of the valley, preserved everywhere, where the
slope is not too steep. These debris heaps form
high terraces many miles wide, now on the right,
now on the left bank. In many places moraine
debris may be seen towering more than 800 ft.
above the level of the river. At the mouths of
many lateral valleys, especially that of the Ashu-
tyr valley, the moraine walls of very considerable
magnitude, formed of the debris, are in excellent
preservation, at the mouths of others they have
got washed away and shifted.
At the entrance of the Bayiimkol vaUey the
enclosing walls are formed of granite, to which, a
httle higher up, succeed fossiliferous limestones and
calcareous slates, as well as dark argillaceous
slates, to which, in turn, again granite succeeds.
Granites of very various character, limestones,
calcareous slates, argillaceous slates, also gneiss
and other crystalline slates, alternate along the
whole length of the valley in unintermittent
Digitized by LjOOQIC
GEOLOGICAL FORMATION 25
sequence and in very peculiar conditions of
stratification. Into this matter, however, there
is the less need to enter here, as Herr Keidel
has taken a geological profile of the valley, which
he will pubUsh and elucidate in the geological
part of the more complete report. I may, how-
ever, here call attention to the fact, that granite
and gneiss take the prominent part in the
structure of the enclosing walls, that the sedi-
mentary matter always reappears, pressed between
the granites, without, however, showing any
sign of contact-metamorphosis, and that the
granites appear to have been vehemently ground.
This points to folding processes which have
affected both kinds of rocks in common. We
fiirther note the embedding of diabasic rocks,
more especially diabasic slates. Lastly, here too
attention must be drawn to the important fact,
first established in the Bayumkol valley and since
confirmed in all the Tian-Shan valleys, leading
to the principal ridge, which were visited by the
expedition — the fact, namely, that in every case
the crystalline rocks reach no farther than
proximity, hearer or more remote, to the main
watershed. This latter is itself built up exclu-
sively of sedimentary rocks, which have undergone
transformation through dynamo-metamorphic pro-
cesses, in part also in consequence of the eruption
of diabasic rock. In the structure of the most
central and highest region of the Central Tian-
Shan, not only limestones of different kinds have
taken part, but also dense, dark, argillaceous
Digitized by LjOOQ IC
26 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
slates of very various formation, dark slates,
having the character of roofing-slate, prepon-
derating, and marbles of different colours, mostly
white, grey or with light streaks.
The valley presents the character of a northern
Alpine valley, showing excellent Alpine meadows
and extensive and very dense pine forest {Picea
Shrenkeana\ with which are here and there com-
bined deciduous trees, such as sorbus, willow,
comus, moimtain ash. The somewhat auriferous
alluviimi of the river was, more than forty-five
years ago, when the district still belonged to China,
exploited by the Chinese. Later, the attempts
to find gold were prosecuted with the aid of
extensive plant by Russian speculators. It would
appear, however, that they did not pay, seeing
the constructions are no longer worked and
are fallen into decay.
The river carries an imcommon volume of water,
and, in the warm hours of the day, rushes in
raging flood down its bed. It is therefore
dangerous to cross, as I learned to my cost. One
of the packhorses, slipping, was at once carried
away into a whirlpool, whence it was rescued
only with the greatest exertion. Of its load a
package was lost, containing all my personal
belongings.
Just before reaching the mouth of the side
valley of Ashu-tyr, and behind a belt of wood
which stretches diagonally across the main valley,
the magnificent pyramid of Khan-Tengri suddenly
comes into view. The moimtain looks so near
Digitized by LjOOQIC
TELEPHOTOGRAPHIC VIEW OF KHAN-TCNSRI (ABOUT 23,600 FT.), TAKEN FROM NORTlf, FROM
THE MIDDLE COURSE OF THE BAYUMKOL VALLEY. DISTANCE ABOUT 24 MILES.
{To face p, 26.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
KHAN-TENGRI 27
as to convey the illusive impression that it is
planted in the background of the Bayumkol
valley. Arriving at the end of the great granite
rocksUp, lying on the top of the first ancient
terminal moraine at the ddbouchement of the
lateral valley of Alai-aigyr, one sees, far below,
the middle course of the Bayumkol valley as a
forest-encircled basin with a quite level bottom;
here, on the other hand, the view is magnificently
closed by Khan-Tengri, and it seemed again as
if at the end of the Bayumkol valley we should
reach the foot of the giant mountain. There we
found indeed the head of a valley, exhibiting
magnificent glaciers and a circle of very high
mountains clothed with ice from their feet to
their summits, but Khan-Tengri was not among
them. Owing to the fact that the moimtain has
no rival and overtops the highest summits of all
the neighbouring ranges by over 8,000 ft., it can
be identified from points of sufficient altitude
and at sufficient distance in any direction whatever.
The determination of its position, with a careftd
exploration and topographical survey of the
Bayumkol glacier, and the geological investigation
of the ranges bounding the valley, would shortly
form our task.
Our camp was pitched at the end of the
main valley at an altitude of about 10,500 ft.
(8,200 m.), near the spot where the glacier arms,
approaching one another from the south-east and
south-west, unite in one common terminal tongue
which ends about 10,660 ft. (8,250 m.) in altitude.
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28 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
While the south-westem glacier (the longer one)
forms a rather compact, not very steeply inclined,
ice-field, about eight miles (twelve versts) long, which
has its origin between snow-clad peaks on a lofly
snow-clad ridge (first trodden by me the following
year), the south-eastern glacier is somewhat shorter,
but much steeper and more rugged ; it is formed
by the union of three ice-streams which, breaking
through gorges in the ice-clad ramparts of the
valley, unite in a circus-shaped basin. On the
surface of the ice a number of funnel-shaped
lakes are hollowed out The wide ice-basin is
immediately overhung by a mountain which for
height, massiveness, and boldness of form is
the most commanding of the giant peaks which
rise roimd the Bayumkol glacier. From its
ice-clad shoulder on the north-west side a per-
pendicular wall about 6,500 ft. (2,000 m.) in
height, on which, of course, neither snow nor
ice can remain, faUs straight to the rugged
broken ice of the glacier-floor. This precipice
is of white, grey and streaked marble, and for
this reason we called the mountain the '^ Marble
Wall" (*Marmorwand'). Like Khan-Tengri, this
commanding moimtain stands conspicuous as a
landmark of the Central Tian-Shan, an orientation
point. It can be recognised by its remarkable
height and by the fact that it towers up just
at the point of union of the main ridge with
its branches, visible far and wide from every
point on the high groimd. Seen from the Tekes
plain, it is known by its remarkable form and
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METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS 29
its precipitous marble side. It was not till later
that we proved what an important part it plays
in the formation of the Tian-Shan.
During two weeks which we spent in the
Bayumkol valley, we were busy with the investi-
gation of the glaciers and their surrounding hills,
Herr Pfann in addition taking measurements
and making a survey, while Herr Keidel prepared
a geological section of the valley and collected
the material necessary for its corroboration. These
labours were, however, often interrupted and
sometimes hindered by two causes — ^inclement
weather, and the refiisal of the porters to work
on difficult ground. The summer of 1902 was on
the whole distinguished by unsettled weather.
Moreover, in the high vaUeys of the Central
Tian-Shan this variability was affected in a
conspicuous manner by local conditions. As was
often proved in the course of the journey, and
as could be established from the meteorological
observations, which were recorded regularly twice
a day, each separate valley has its own meteoro-
logical character, which depends on the direction of
the axis of the valley. For the Bajrumkol valley
the determining factor is that, being wide open
to the north, it debouches immediately into the
wide Tekes plain. The layers of air stagnating
there and rapidly cooled during the night are,
towards midday, set in violent commotion, owing
to the imcommonly effective insolation of the
floor of the steppe; they rush in storm towards
the mountain range and penetrate the wide chasm
Digitized by LjOOQIC
80 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
of the Bajrumkol valley to its upper stretches,
where, rapidly decreasing in temperature on the
comparatively cold slopes, which extend to the
north and north-east, they condense their vapour.
The weather in the upper valley was, as a rule,
good in the forenoon, but the force of the
current of air, which regularly ascends from
the plain in the middle of the day, is so great
that it displaces that which, earUer in the day,
prevails in the upper valley, and the latter does
not regain its ascendency and restore calm till
evening. With great regularity towards noon
the air became dull; about two or three o'clock
torrents of rain or snowstorms began, and after-
wards, during the evening and night, fine clear
weather prevailed. These winds, however, con-
dense their moisture on the middle heights, and
the highest ridges receive but Uttle of it. At
our headquarters, about 10,500 fL (8,200 m.) high,
the weather was always worse than at our camps,
8,800—6,600 fL (1,000—2,000 m.) higher, where
our work was mainly carried on. In the valley
the precipitation was more continuous and more
copious. The dry, loose condition of the snow
on the extreme heights of the Tian-Shan (of
which more hereafter) receives frx)m these facts
at least a partial explanation, though doubtless
other circmnstances are also partly accoimtable
for it.
As for the porters, one-half of the Kirghiz
deserted in the night, and the other half refrised
to serve, if they should have to climb on foot over
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INDIFFERENT PORTERS 81
glacier ice at the higher elevations and carry on
their back loads of quite moderate weight Our
discharged Kossacks were somewhat better, but
they would not undertake what an Alpine porter
of only average strength accomplishes with ease,
to say nothing of the loads, carried by the natives
in Sikkim and Kashmir. They usually showed
the greatest aversion to snow at a great altitude,
though I had equipped them all with Tyrolese
shoes nailed for mountain wear, as well as crampons
and ice-axes.
If to the unfavourable factors already mentioned
there is added the bad condition of the high snow,
which, especially on the northern and eastern
slopes, lay dry and powdery on a surface of ice, one
can easily imagine the wretched difficulties which
opposed our investigations. I soon perceived that
the extreme heights of the Tian-Shan are no
proper field for the gratification of the Alpine
craze. Our incipient purpose of climbing the
"Marble Wall" had to be given up, since the
porters could not be induced to carry the baggage,
indispensable for a prolonged sojourn over heights
of 16,000 ft. (5,000 m.), to a saddle at the foot
of the north-western arHe of the mountain. We
had pitched our little mummery-tent at a spot fi^ee
from ice, about 12,500 ft. (8,800 m.) high, on a de-
pression in the north-eastern rampart of the eastern
glacier. Thence we made excursions to the lofty
granite peaks in the north-west, from 14,000 to
14,800 ft. (4,800 — 4,500 m.) high, wreathed with
small glaciers. The granite is there altered in an
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82 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
unusual and multifarious manner in consequence of
mountain pressure* Next we went to the com-
pletely snow-clad schist summits, 16,500 to 18,000
ft (5,000 — 5,500 m.) high, to the south-east of the
high camp, to get from these heights an insight
into the formation of the surrounding chains, and
into the course of the valleys, which separate them,
as well as to take photographic (especially tele-
'photographic) panoramic views. These would be
of great value for the completion of the topographic
surveys, in which, moreover, the detail was obtained
by photography.
Of these excursions the following was of special
interest: On July 28th, soon after midnight, we
left a bivouac at 14,000 ft, (4,800 m.) on the north-
eastern rampart of the eastern glacier, and out-
flanked that obstacle by traversing in the dark, over
dangerous ground, the south-west flank of a lofty
snow-clad summit. We then climbed the next
peak, about 16,500 ft. (5,000 m.), and descended
several hundred metres to a snow-saddle, and
again worked our way up to a similar dome-
shaped ridge about 15,800 ft. (4,800 m.) high.
Thence we descended towards the east, and thus
reached the head of a hitherto unknown valley,
quite filled with glacier ice. The course of this
valley was first north-east, then east, and finally
south-east, debouching in the neighbourhood of the
Musart pass, and having thus a length of about
twenty-six miles (forty versts). From the quite
level ice-floor of the valley-head we turned towards
the south-west, ascended about 1,800 ft (400 m.)
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE "MARBLE WALL" 88
over nev^-covered slopes and, passing over a wide
snow-clad ridge, reached the foot of the north-
west ar&te of the " Marble Wall." There a magni-
ficent view opened out, towards the west over
the wild glacier region of the Bayumkol, and
towards the east over the far-stretching ice-field
of the newly discovered valley. This is bounded
on its south side by a commanding ice-clad range
of splendid peaks, stretching away towards the
Musart pass. In the deep bays between these
peaks lie exceedingly rugged and picturesque
many-terraced glaciers, which descend steeply to
the main glacier. This range, branching off from
the " Marble Wall," without doubt forms the main
watershed between the northern and southern
slopes of the Central Tian-Shan, as was proved
to a certainty by subsequent observations from
various points of view. I estimate the average
height of the ridge of this chain at about
16,400 ft. (5,000 m.), and that of the peaks at
more than 19,500 ft. (6,000 m.). There is only one
deep depression in this mountain rampart. My
expectation of seeing Khan-Tengri, towering up
in it, was disappointed, and the question as to
its position became ever more mysterious. It
could not be far off, but in which of the valleys,
lying behind this range, could it rise? Once
more the inaccuracy of all the maps of this
region was proved. There, where, according to
the maps, Khan-Tengri should be, rises the
"Marble Wall." The northern rampart of the
ice-valley, though not so lofty as the southern,
8
Digitized by LjOOQIC
84 THE VALLEY OF BAYUMKOL
is imposing enough ; through the indentations
of its crest we could see an ocean of peaks,
many of which had never before been looked
on by human eye. They belong, in part, to
the mountain range, bounding the unexplored
valleys to the north-east and east of our position,
some of which, at least, I was able to traverse in
the following year.
Owing to the nearly complete covering of snow
and ice on these lofty ranges, one could see but
little or nothing of their geological structure. That
diabase must be represented in them was shown
by blocks among the meagre ddbris at the head
of the valley. In the following year I was able
to determine their composition, which is identical
with that of the range at the head of the
Bayumkol valley. In viewing these mighty pro-
tuberances of the ground, rising round us, one
could not but perceive that the broad masses of
the mountain ranges east and west of my position
are cleft only by the courses of a few deep valleys,
evidently of very old formation, and are thus
divided into single groups {massifs)^ whose roofs
are in most instances furrowed only by elevated
troughs or not very deep channels, separating
narrow crests and numerous peaks which rise out
of the plateaux. The mouths of these smaller
elevated valleys, retaining snow and tiny glaciers,
almost always Ue very high above the level of the
main valley. Without discussing this interesting
subject, I shall only mention that at the time
when the channels of the main valleys were still
Digitized by LjOOQIC
BAD WEATHER 85
filled high with ice, the small contributory glaciers
in the upper valleys disembogued at the level
of the surface of the glaciers in the main
valleys. As the glaciers, both below and above,
retreated (the tributaries far faster than the main
glaciers), erosion by the action of flowing water
was, in consequence of the rapidly increasing
dryness of the climate, insufficient to contribute
materially to the development of these newer
valleys, while, on the other hand, in consequence
of the enhanced destruction of the moimtain
crests, the filling up of the hollows with debris
began and continued till these were again partially
filled with snow and ice, owing to a renewed
but less copious glacial period. In the con-
figuration of the roof of these ranges, accordingly,
we see the result of erosion and excavation no
longer in vigorous action, while, in all the deep
channels, especially during the interglacial periods,
both continued and still continue to act very
powerfully.
The continuously unfavourable condition of the
weather in the Bayumkol valley caused me, though
my labours were not yet ended, to leave it for
the time and not return till autumn, when, with
less conflict between the thermal conditions of
plain and mountain, more settled weather might
be expected. I wished to try whether better
weather would not favour exploration in one of
the larger valleys, the Sary-jass valley.
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CHAPTER III
THE 8ABY-JASS VALLEY AND THE SEMENOFF
GLACIER
We withdrew about sixteen miles (twenty-five
versts) from the head of the (Bayumkol) valley, and
then turned southwards into the Ashu-tyr side
valley, already mentioned, which possesses great
wealth of water, alpine meadow, and pine forests.
The valley has an approximate length of sixteen
miles (twenty-five versts), and, ascending steeply
in three stages, stretches with many turnings, but
on the whole in a south-south-westerly direction,
following the strike of the gneiss ; this often passing
into granite, and alternating with limestones, phyl-
lites, metamorphosed schists and especially marble
schists forms the boundaries of the valley which
especially in its lower course, are ruggedly peaked.
Marbles and marble schists show, particularly at the
head of the valley, great disturbance and extraordin-
ary cleavage, due to fractures. The valley every-
where displays traces of its former ice-covering, not
only in the deposits of drift, but also in the grinding
and rounding of the lateral cliffs, noticeable' in a
high degree in the upper portion of the valley. Its
supply of glacier-ice is no longer great, yet some
of the many side-valleys, which open into it,
36
Digitized by LjOOQIC
KARAKOL 37
contain small glaciers, while two of them have
glaciers of more considerable size, which, however,
are also in a period of rapid retreat. Everywhere
snow and ice (to be seen especially on the slopes
of some rugged, massive peaks) are limited to
northern and eastern exposm^. At the head of
the valley we made a very steep ascent over marshy
meadow-land (water being everyft^here in the valley
surprisingly abundant), an old ground moraine,
covering the mountain slope and reached a glacier,
the crossing of whicli was verj^ difficult for the
horses on account of its covering of soft snow,
and owing to crevasses, which the snow concealed.
Crossing the snowy ridge about 12,800 ft. (3,900 m,)
high, we reached the Karakol valley, which opens
into that of Siu-y-jass,
I must liere remark that the Kirghiz know no
other name for this side-valley than "Karakol/*
This, after many inquiries, I was able to estabhsh
just as surely as that nowhere in the Tekes valley
do the Kirgliiz population or the Kossacks of
Narynkol or the constituted authorities for the
Bayumkol valley, apply to it the name ** KarakoL"
Hence Herr Ignatieff is wrong, 1 think, in re-
naming the real Karakol valley after his Kirghiz
guide Bektur-bulak, Geographical names cannot
be dealt with too carefully if one would avoid
confusion* Dr. Friedrichsen, who, with the
Saposhnikoff' expedition, crossed by the same
route as we did, but two weeks earlier and in
the opposite direction, in his " Reisebriefen "
calls the valley Ashu-tyr, a name which belongs
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88 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
only to the valley, running from the pass north-
wards to the Bayumkol valley. Dr. Friedrichsen
took this tributary for the main valley, though
the far greater volume of the main river is alone
sufficient proof that the main valley must lead
at its southern end to extensive glaciers. The
pass itself he calls Narynkol pass, evidently on
the probably erroneous assumption that it is the
identical pass, crossed by Ignatieff and by him
called Narynkol. If the pass must bear a name,
Ashu-tyr would be a more suitable one.
We made a steep descent fit)m the pass in a
south-westerly direction following the course of the
Karakol glacier, which comes from dome-shaped,
snow-dad smnmits, and is very little laden with drift.
Our path lay in a hollow between the margin of the
glacier-tongue, a wall of ice 100 ft. (30 m.) high,
and the mountain side. The range here consists of
phyllitic schists, stratified porphyry, granite, lime-
stones, and extraordinarily riven marbles, as well
as conglomerates and breccias, which are con-
nected with the outcropping of the porphjrry. In
the limestones Herr Keidel found badly preserved
fossils. The rock walls on both sides of the valley
are polished to a great height by ice, and the lower
part of the valley may be reguded as a type of a
valley to a considerable extent shaped by, if not
entirely due to, the action of ice. Besides the main
glacier, which, after a course of about three miles
(four to five versts), ends abruptly in its own debris
about 8,700 m., there are two other considerable
glaciers, which come in from the left, but their
Digitized by LjOOQIC
GREAT GLACIERS 89
tongues cling to the black slate walls, no longer
reaching the main glacier ; in a similar condition
are a number of smaller ones, which lie in holes and
comers of the rock sides of the valley. The lower
course of the valley, much widened in consequence
of faults (one is especially finely exposed), has
been eroded into the form of a kettle, owing not
only to the action of the main glacier, but also to
the convergent action of the numerous secondary
glaciers, which formerly forced their way beyond
their actual boundaries concentrically into this
valley, thus presenting a true object-lesson on
the corrosive action of ice. Here also, in conse-
quence of ruptures as well as of the grinding force
of the ice and the weathering, which is peculiarly
active, owing to the valley's being open to the
south and west, an illustration of advanced
destruction of the mountain range is presented,
such as I had seldom seen in the Tian-Shan,
rich as it is in phenomena of this sort. The
southern and western exposure, favourable to an
extraordinary insolation of the dark slate cliffs,
and the consequent intensity of reflected heat, are
the cause of a more conspicuous retreat of the main
and the secondary glaciers than I observed in any
other valley of similar altitude in the northern
Tian-Shan. The main glacier at one time de-
bouched seven miles (ten versts) below its present
termination to join the giant glacier which formerly
filled the Sary-jass valley. On a green terrace of
old morainic drift, near the spot where the Karakol
stream now flows into the Sary-jass river, I had
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40 THE SARYJASS VALLEY
my headquarters at about 11,500 ft. (8,500 m.),
whence excursions were made for the exploration
of the Semenoff glacier and the ranges, sur-
rounding it.
According to the publications of certam travellers,
who visited the Sary-jass valley and penetrated some
versts upwards on the ice of the Semenoff glacier,
this ice-stream would appear to be fed from the
snow-fields of lOian-Tengri. If this were the case,
the mountain would be situated in the background
of the ice- valley ; but the course of the valley winds
about, and even from elevated positions its back-
ground cannot be recognised with sufficient cer-
tainty, and the less so that broad side-valleys,
which themselves have branches, debouch near the
valley-head. From many points on the margin
of the Sary-jass valley Khan-Tengri is seen, how-
ever, always in such position, that one is constrained
to believe it can only rise at the head of the
Semenoff glacier. Yet, since in the Ba}aimkol valley
I had settled how far the Semenoff glacier stretches
northwards; I was doubtfrd of this assumption.
Taking advantage of favourable weather we forth-
with ascended a mountain, towering immediately
behind our camping-ground, on the north side of
the valley. From this snow-crowned level, about
18,800 ft. (4,200 m.), there is an excellent view
over the glacier ranges of the Central Tian-Shan.
The favourable position of the point reached, the
pellucid air, and the extraordinarily clear light
made it possible to take a telephotographic pano-
rama in twelve sheets of 8 by 10 in. which
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THE "MARBLE WALL" IDENTIFIED 41
will be of great value for the determination of
positions as well as of the fonn and course of the
mountain chains, which constitute the loftiest
portion of the Tian-Shan. The view over these
commanding ranges showed that lOian-Tengri has
no rivals of even approximately equal nobility.
Though many summits may reach a height of
over 20,000 ft. (6,000 m.), and a few even 1,500 ft
(400 m.) higher, the slender pyramid of Khan-Tengri
still overtops and dominates them all In these
hurried notes all I can say concerning the rela-
tive elevation of the Central Tian-Shan is, that the
greatest altitudes are in the mountains surrounding
the Bayiimkol valley, especially those between it
and the Semenoff glacier, though these may be
surpassed by a few of the noble peaks to the south
of the Adyr-tyr or Mushketoff glacier, but that
these are all excelled by the mountains on the
southern boundary of the Inylchek glacier, and
that at all events the average crest and peak
altitude of this range must be regarded as the
highest in the Tian-Shan, a gradual slope towards
the south beginning here. From our standpoint
we could establish with certainty that the " Marble
Wall " is identical with the summit which on all
the maps is marked as Khan-Tengri {vide p. 88,) and,
though its whole importance as a centre of ramifica-
tion was not completely proved till later, one could
even now see that in its neighbourhood a parting
of divergent ranges takes place. The grouping of
the crests round the topmost pyramid of Khan-
Tengri, however, as seen from this point, was such
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42 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
that one could not say, even with remote confi-
dence, from which of the valleys it rises, especially
as in its neighbourhood, about north-east from it,
there is a seemingly confused crowding together
of mountain ranges, approaching from diflTerent
directions. It could be conjectured, but not
settled, that the base of IQian-Tengri, the lord
of the Tian-Shan, lay in the Inylchek valley.
Some hundred metres below the top of our
plateau there extends, like a shoulder of the
mountain, a terrace on which Herr Pfann marked
out a base line and fixed its position by astronomical
observations. From this he determined the position
and height of Khan-Tengri and others of the most
prominent points of the Central Tian-Shan, while
I set about the exploration of the SemenoflP glacier
and its boimdary ranges, and Herr Keidel busied
himself with the investigation of the geological
structure of the range, surrounding the Sary-jass
valley below the camp, for which purpose he made
excursions into the side- valleys on the right bank.
Where extensive faults occur he found schists,
phyllites, limestones, granites and diabases, which
had fallen in small flakes to various levels. In the
Kashka-su valley he was fortunate in finding
Devonian limestone. The geological stratification
and composition of the valley ranges shows
similarity to those of the Ba}aimkol valley, but in
the Sary-jass valley diabases are more widely
difiused than in the Ba3rimikoL More detailed
notes are reserved for the special geological report
The Sary-jass valley is the most extensive and
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THE SEMENOFF GLACIER 48
the most important of all the valleys of the
Central Tian-Shan, since it forms the great channel
for the waters, flowing south to the Tarim. Its
present configuration without doubt has been
affected by a glacial period.
The merit of having first pointed out the
significance of the glacial deposits which are found
in the valley, belongs to P. P. Semenoff; the
wide difiusion of these deposits is, however, even
more important, as this famous explorer has him-
self acknowledged. I could observe these and
other signs of the action of ice in the main valley
and its secondary valleys up to 1,660 ft. (500 m.)
above the present level of the river, to such heights,
that one might infer that formerly the valley was
almost completely filled with glacier ice. In
comparison with the thickness of former glaciers,
that of the beds of nevd and ice, still found in the
main valley and its tributaries, is insignificant;
nevertheless, these form one of the largest glacier
regions in the whole of the Tian-Shan, and are,
as will be proved by the results of my exploration,
in any case much more important than has
hitherto been believed. The largest glacier of
the region is the Semenoff glacier, which hitherto
was supposed to be the largest of the Tian-Shan.
I had the good fortune in the course of the
expedition to obtain proof that it is exceeded in
length by other ice-streams, one being more than
double its length. But also, the extent of the
Semenoff glacier has been hitherto under-estimated.
According to Ignatieff, who visited it in 1886, its
Digitized by LjOOQIC
44 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
length is about seven miles (ten versts) whereas it
Ls actually about three times that lengtL Of its
breadth and the breadth of its tributary glaciers
there was on the whole up till now no proper
idea.
From various causes, partly also as a result of
the westerly direction of the axis of the upper
course of the Sary-jass, we observe the rare
phenomenon that the main glacier has retreated
to a greater extent than the still existing side
glaciers, which — at least, those debouching into the
upper course of the vaUey — ^have almost kept their
early horizontal length, if not their former thick-
ness. This, however, is true only of those which
debouch on the (orographic) left bank, since their
axis is directed towards the north. Their tongues
at the debouchement hang like patches of ice over
ground-moraine debris 600 — 900 ft. (200 — 800 m.)
above the present floor of the main vaUey, where
this is free from ice. Of those which now terminate
in the region of the main glacier as it at present
exists, the tongues of the first three no longer
reach it, but hang 800—500 ft. (100 — 150 m.)
above the level of its surface. All the secondary
glaciers farther east debouching on the main
glacier, some of them of great extent, unite with
the main stream, and the level of their floor as
a whole lies in one plain with that of the latter.
The unusually gentle slope of all these ice-streams
(it is only 25 m. per verst or 126 ft per mile in
the middle and upper course of the main glacier)
might, in my opinion, point to a considerable
Digitized by LjOOQIC
SIDEVALLEYS 45
filling-up of the channels of the valley with
mountain debris at some time when they were
not yet covered with ice.
The side- valleys, debouching on the right bank
— at least, those debouching into the portion of
the main valley, now free from ice — ^have, where
their axis is directed towards the south, no longer
any glacier; only at the head of some of
them small fields of nev^ lie in recesses (Kare).
The mouths of these side-valleys lie from
650 ft. to 1,000 ft. (200 — 800 m.) above the
bottom of the main valley ; to reach them one
has to climb up steep, green, marshy ground-
moraines. While the chain on the left bank is
cut into by numerous side-valleys, whose own
boundary walls, also deeply indented, seem broken
up into many steep and variously shaped peaks,
the chain on the right bank is divided by
relatively few side-valleys, and the walls, bound-
ing these show far fewer broken crest-lines and
more plateau-like tops, shattered crests with super-
imposed tent-shaped peaks. The forces at present
at work in the formation of mountains do not
account for these facts, which rather point to the
conclusion that, prior to the beginning of the
actual ice-covering of the mountain range, erosion
was more powerfully at work on the slope ex-
posed to the north, and destruction (deflation)
more on that exposed to the south, and con-
sequently that the climatic conditions were then
similar to those now prevailing, though they
may have been less sharply accentuated. At the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
46 THE SARYJTASS VALLEY
same time, the high angle at which the strata
composing these ranges are set must be taken
into accoimt.
Several miles below the tongue of the Semenoff
glacier the bottom of the valley is hollowed out to
a basin about a mile and a half (two versts) wide,
its level floor covered with shingle. At some
former time the water from the glacier had been
dammed up here by terminal moraines, so as to
form a lake ; the basin still holds some small relics
of lakes. The streams from the glacier are still
busy, cutting up and carrying away the remains
of the old moraine ice-drift, which still exists in
considerable masses. To the climatic difference
between the two banks is to be traced the fact
that the tongue of the glacier runs along the
south bank for more than a verst, where the
north bank is free from ice. I subsequently
observed like phenomena in other Tian-Shan
glaciers with similar exposure. The tongue of
the Semenoff glacier ends at about 12,000 ft.
(8,600 m.) altitude, according to observations
taken in two consecutive years. The climatic
difference is shown also in another way, the
mountain chain along the bank facing south-
wards having snow and ice only on its summits,
which are but slightly divided, while its deep
rocky precipices retain these only in ravines and
channels; whereas the chain looking north is
wrapped in a bright garment of snow and ice,
which seldom shows a rent. This range, much
divided, stretches eastwards as a row of mighty
Digitized by LjOOQIC
GLACIAL PHENOMENA 47
snow-clad, round-headed mountains, horn-shaped
peaks, and steep ice-ramparts, presenting a magni-
ficent spectacle. In the middle and upper course
of the glacier, where its axis is directed more
to the north-east, the bounding range on the
right bank also appears to a large extent covered
with ice, though neither in this respect nor in
imposing mountain shapes does it equal the
chain on the left bank, which, besides, is loftier.
This, and also the circumstance that the glacier
bottom slopes towards the north, are to be traced
to the gradual rise of the collective mountain
mass towards the south. In consequence of the
slope of the ice-bed towards the north, the water
from the ice tends to flow to the north bank,
and the main stream therefore springs, not from
the end of the ice-tongue, but some versts above,
from a cavity in the precipitous right side of the
tongue. I was able to observe similar phenomena,
due to similar causes, in the other great glaciers
successively towards the south.
The glacier has, near its tongue, a breadth of
about 5,000 ft. (a verst and a half), but widens
farther up and attains in its middle course a breadth
of more than two miles (three versts). In its lower
course its surface is free from snow, but is covered
with some debris, though to a less extent than other
great glaciers of the Tian-Shan ; here it is only
furrowed by some deep troughs, owing to peculiar
conditions of insolation, dependent on the form and
exposure of the mountain walls, and also due to
erosion by melting water ; elsewhere it is uneven.
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48 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
in places wavy, but not penetrated by crevices
to any great extent. Generally the cleavage of
the surfiftce is comparatively slight, partly in con-
sequence of the gentle slope and the evenness of
its base, which I have already mentioned; partly
on account of the absence of lateral pressure,
since, apart from the immense size of the basin,
the ice on both sides is separated from the
rocky banks by deep chasms ; and lastly because,
as already stated, most of the secondary glaciers
join the main glacier without any descent. The
principal regions of cleavage are at the arched edges,
mostly on the right side. There are only a few
places at which seraes have been formed.
In consequence of its great extent and its gentle
slope the Semenoff glacier is fairly constant I
have visited it in two consecutive summers, have
roamed over it in all directions, and altogether
have spent more than two weeks on its surface,
but neither at its terminal tongue nor at its
edges could I find any indication of shrinkage in
recent times. If a traveller, who paid a flying
visit to the lowest part of the glacier some years
ago, reported on its rapid and continual melting
away, he was probably induced to take this view
by the many rivulets, gushing over the ice, such as
are formed in the case of every great glacier (even
in the European Alps, though perhaps in less
degree) in the midday hours of hot summer days.
But for the melting away which takes place in
the course of a brief Tian-Shan summer under
the climatic conditions now prevalent, ample com-
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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GLACIER 49
pensation is made by the extraordinary amount of
snow and ice which the Semenoff glacier receives,
especially from the very large secondary valleys
of its upper course. So long as there exist such
immense stores of snow as I have seen in the
vast, hitherto untrodden interior of the Central
Tian-Shan and so long as their masses, impelled by
their own weight to lower altitudes, continue to
deliver abundant material for the formation of
nev^ and glaciers, there is, in my opinion, no danger
of a complete drying up of the Tian-Shan, such
as has been frequently mooted. These vast stores
of snow, not only on account of the dry condition,
peculiar to snow at great altitudes in the Tian-
Shan {vide pp. 80, 81 ; more concerning this here-
after), but also on account of the low temperature
of the air at these elevations, undergo very trifling
diminution through melting or sublimation, but
on the contrary are increased by new falls of snow.
On this interesting subject and on the phenomena
connected with it, I must not further enlarge
within the limits of this report.
Of all the great glaciers of the Central Tian-
Shan which I have visited, the Semenoff* glacier,
on the whole, shows in its general habit most
resemblance to the great glaciers of the European
Alps. Only in one point it is essentially different
from them : With respect to its great wealth in
ice-lakes, and with respect to their origin and
disappearance, I shall state my opinion in a more
detailed report. Most of them are funnel-shaped,
and they are rather irregularly arranged on both
4
Digitized by LjOOQIC
50 THE SARYJTASS VALLEY
banks of the lower and middle course, but are
more numerous on the right bank. Many of them
have considerable length, 640 — 1,000 ft. (200 —
800 m.)» and present a magnificent spectacle when
the ice-capped giants surrounding the glacier
valley are mirrored in their green or blue waters.
The difference in their colour, some being green,
some blue, is a highly peculiar phenomenon. In
the upper course of tiie glacier there are no ice-
lakes, but in the moraines on the right bank tha*e
are numerous moraine-lakes, not inconsiderable in
size. The snow-covering begins in the middle
course, and is very thick in the upper course.
A nev^ basin, resembling a lake, a mile broad,
oval, trough-shaped, and rising in two stages, but
elsewhere with only a very slight incline, forms
the north-eastern and highest portion of the
glacier, which is enclosed by the southern wall of
the western Bayumkol glacier. In this range, in
which some magnificent snow-peaks rise to a
height of more than 20,000 ft. (6,000 m.) there
is a deep depression, easily accessible from the
uppermost snow trough, and to this, since it lies
at the very head of the Semenoff* glacier, I have
given the name of the Semenoff pass. With a
favourable condition of the snow-covering of the
Bayumkol glacier, one would probably be able to
descend through this opening into the last-named
valley. The total length of the Semenoff* glacier
from its terminal tongue to this pass is about
twenty miles (thirty versts).
The masses of mountain d^ris, transported by
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THE MORAINES 61
the glacier are comparatively small ; the lateral
moraines have become bank moraines ; the middle
moraines (there are only two) receive but little
material, since the great side- valleys, one of which,
with an average breadth of 8,500 ft. (one verst), has
an approximate length of seven miles (ten versts),
are bounded by magnificent mountain chains, whose
splendid snow and ice mantles show, however, but few
rents. In the lower reaches of the lateral moraines,
granites and limestones predominate and elsewhere
chloritic schists and clay-slate, though limestone as a
rule is found only in the left morame, since the lime-
stone crops out from a bed on the left bank, which
runs north-east and does not again reach the right
bank. The middle moraines consist almost entirely
of granites of varied structure, and of granite
porphyries, pegmatite, and syenite, with some clay-
slate ; but these rock fragments become scarcer the
nearer one approaches to the upper course of the
glacier. Here we meet with increasingly metamor-
phosed limestones, slates, and white marbles, and
also fragments of diabase and diabasic slates.
This leads to the conclusion that the innermost
boundary range consists only of this rock series.
All accurate insight into stratigraphic relations
is prevented by the thick snow mantle, covering
the bordering ranges. On the right bank, where
snow-free slopes occur here and there, the ground
is covered with a chaos of blocks.
Unfortunately, in Sary-jass also our work was
little favoured by the weather, although it was
not quite so unsettled as in the Bayumkol
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62 THE SARYJASS VALLEY
valley. From a bivouac on the right margin of
the moraine, about 12,800 ft. (8,900 m.), some ten
miles up the glacier, Herr Pfann and I with the
Tyrolese Kostner ascended a snowy pjrramidal
peak, rising to about 15,760 ft. (4,800 m.). From
its summit was unfolded to our view in all its
imposing magnificence the vast icefield with its
ranges of peaks completely snow- and ice-clad,
beyond which were visible the still loftier wonder-
ftd mountains of the Mushketoff and of the
Tnylchek glaciers — altogether an Alpine prospect,
such as is to be seen in few other parts of the
globe. The pyramidal cone of Khan-Tengri was
visible away to the south-south-east beyond a
broad snowy summit, surrounded by several inter-
crossing ridges, so that it seemed already evident
enough that Khan-Tengri has no connection with
the Semenoff glacier, although in the absence of
any trustworthy topographic information it was
impossible to say from what valley it rises. The
northward view from our summit was specially
instructive as to the conformation of the complex
mountain system, stretching between the Bayum-
kol, Karakol, and Kapkak valleys, as well as the
trend of the upland valleys, ramifying through it.
This was a welcome addition to the observations,
which we had already made from the heights
of the Baynmkol valley. There was just time
to take a number of photographic pictures of the
whole scene when a sudden snowstorm put an
end to our observations.
Being determined to solve tb? riddle of the
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TELEPHOTOCRAPHU: VIEW OF THE SUMMIT OF KHAN-TENORI (ABOUT 23,600 FT.), TAKEN FROM
NORTH-NORTH-WEST, FROM A PEAK (ABOUT l6,0OO FT.) ON THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF
THE SKMCNOFF GLACIER. DISTANCE ABOUT 5 MILES.
[ To fact p. 5«,
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THZ rryMK'I
StCpfK:. .
tie: u- ^
If' rtr-rr- . .
tue •* ;>ciiivij'»'
stage ol iic\ c V.
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THE SEMENOFF PEAK 58
position of Khan-Tengri, we proposed the very
next day to make the ascent of the highest point at
the head of the Semenoff glacier. This is a superb,
broad, snowy peak, which is encircled by a system
of wild s^racs and crevasses, and rises some seven-
teen miles above the tongue-end in the north-eastem
extremity of the glacier, its highest point exceeding
19,685 ft. (6,000 m.) by a few hundred metres.
This wonderful mountain, which dominates the
whole basin of the Semenoff glacier, I have named
the " Semenoff peak," in perpetual memory of
the great services rendered by the energetic
President of the Imperial Hussian Geographical
Society to our knowledge of the Tian-Shan.
We started from our elevated station soon after
midnight. With some difficulty we approached
the right margin, threading our way in the dark
through the system of lateral crevasses which,
owing to the sharp bend of the valley to the
north-east, is here very intricate. Unluckily I
stepped into a crevasse, thereby so severely sprain-
ing my left foot that, although still able to get on
that day with some trouble, I was afterwards fain
to reserve my strength and prevented for some
time from taking part in trying excursions. Aft«r
a rapid march of some eight miles over hard-frozen
snow we reached the foot of the last stage of the
glacier, from which access is gained to the highest
nev^field, which is still some three miles distant from
the " Semenoff pass," the extreme point. From this
stage of nev^ we ascended across steep, much-fissured
snowy slopes in an approximately easterly direction
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54 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
and made good progress over the snow, which, thanks,
to the early hour (5 a.m.), was in a favourable con-
dition. We soon reached a considerable altitude,
so that we felt a confident hope of scaling the top
of the giant mountain, and from it at last acquir-
ing some certainty, regarding the position of Khan-
Tengri and the ramification of the loftiest crests.
This hope urged us rapidly forward ; but as we
mounted higher and higher, up to an elevation of
some 16,400 ft. (5,000 m.), the hard-frozen surface
gradually gave way imder our feet and, hence-
forth, was formed of snow, which assumed more
and more a powdery consistency. I have already
indicated one of the causes of this phenomenon
{xjide pp. 80, 49). The moisture precipitated as snow
on the extreme heights of the Tian-Shan possesses
a peculiar crystalline form, and is dry as powder.
The atmospheric strata of these altitudes are un-
usually dry, but on snow of this nature they cause
no appreciable amount of evaporation. Moreover,
even under the influence of insolation the surface
layers cannot, owing to the constant circulation of
the upper atmospheric strata and their low tempera-
ture,thaw during the day, and consequently cannot
form a frozen crust at night. If anywhere, such
processes take place on the slopes, facing south and
west, though even there only to a small extent, but
as a rule hardly at all on those with a northerly or
easterly exposure. There, on the contrary, the severe
night frosts only make the snow all the drier. This
prevents any congelation, and one sinks a yard deep
in the powdery snow. But when this powdery
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A TOILSOME ASCENT 65
snow lies on a layer of old snow, which by the
above-mentioned processes has acquired a glacial
surface in any places, favourable for such a forma-
tion, or else has been gradually hardened by the
pressure of the overlying layei-s, then there is great
danger of the loose surface layer, when trodden
upon, breaking away from the steep slope and glid-
ing with the persons trespassing on it down to the
bottom. In a few days this was, in fact, verified.
For us, however, there was no imminent analogous
danger during the ascent ; but we sank at every
step to the middle, and could no longer find any
firm footing. All our efforts failed to discover
a zone of snow in better condition by changing
the direction of our ascent
In order to divide fairly the toilsome labour of
treading down the snow, we changed the leader
every ten minutes. Still the strength of the three
Alpine climbers gradually flagged, and despite the
most heroic efforts, we no longer made any
appreciable progress. There were still to be sur-
mounted over 8,800 ft. (1,000 m.) of absolute
elevation, which, taking into account the angle
of the slope and the winding of the way, was
equivalent to a distance.of over 5,000 ft. (1,500 m.).
Even if our strength was equal to the task, which
was not to be thought of in such snow and in
such extremely rarefied atmosphere higher up,
night would have overtaken us on the summit.
And how easily might the weather have changed,
so that even then we should have no longer been
able to make observations.
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56 THE SARY-JASS VALLEY
The undertaking had to be given up as hopeless.
Still, it was not quite useless, since the prospect
from the elevation attained gave us much supple-
mentary information.
The state of my foot obliging me to return to
headquarters, my place was taken by Herr Keidel,
and one of the Narynkol Kossacks was summoned
to carry the large photographic apparatus. The
party now ascended a summit 15,100 ft. (4,600 m.)
high on the southern margin of the Semenoff
glacier, the primary object being to take photo-
graphs and to obtain bearings for our further
investigations. From this point Herr Pfann's
next goal was a mountain, rising on the southern
margin of the neighbouring Mushketoff glacier,
which runs parallel with the Semenoff. The
assumption — verified a year later — ^was that from
the top a decisive view must be had of the valley,
towering above which, the pyramidal crest of
Khan-Tengri is always seen.
As the mountain at least its flank up which the
ascent was to be made, is not very steep, and
moreover faces west, all the conditions were
present for a successM issue.
At midnight the party of four started from a
camp 18,450 ft. (4,100 m.) high, situated on the
left margin of the Semenoff glacier at the junction
of a broad level secondary glacier valley. They
traversed its course of about five miles, and thus
before daybreak reached the foot of a broad low
ridge, which is crowned with stunted snowy domes
and separates the Semenoff basin from the upper
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A NARROW ESCAPE 57
part of the Mushketoff glacier, of which more anon.
A deep depression about 14,450 ft. (4,400 m.) in
this valley — ^which I name the " Mushketoff pass "
in honour of the never-to-be-forgotten naturalist,
Mushketoff — ^was now surmounted. As the surface
of the Mushketoff glacier is here about 500 ft.
(150 m.) higher than that of the Semenoff glacier,
but little height was sacrificed in descending to
reach it. It was crossed from side to side at a point,
where it is about two miles wide, so that by day-
break the party reached the foot of the completely
snow-clad mountain on the opposite margin, which
was to be ascended, and had an altitude roughly
estimated at 17,700 ft. (5,800 m.). Scaling over a
snowy ridge, trending away to the west, they reached
the shoulder of the mountain and began the ascent
on the west flank of the actual summit itself. All
went well, and the snow remained firm under the
feet of the climbers, who were connected together
by a stout Alpine rope. Towards 11 o'clock in the
forenoon they found themselves within 800 — 600 ft.
(100 — 200 m.) of the very top of the mountain.
Then was heard a sudden crash : a surface layer of
snow, loosely overlying a substratum of hard snow
had cracked; it gave way and slid towards the
bottom with all four climbers. They all seemed
lost, when their downward course was fortunately
arrested by a small snowy ledge projecting some
650 ft. (200 m.) deeper out of the slope. All four
were able to work their way uninjured out of the
snowy masses, and nothing had to be regretted, save
the loss of some hats and ice-axes, which could not
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58 THE SARY.JASS VALLEY
be recovered The Kossack^ paralysed by firi^^t,
completely lost his senses. The three others were
inconsolable at the fSetilure of the attempt, which
in Herr PfSetnn's opinion must have led to the
discovery of the position of Khan-Tengri; yet
another year elapsed, before he was found to be
right. So near to the wished-for goal had their
hopes been wrecked.
And now for me the outcome of all past ex-
periences was that in the highest regions of the
Tian-Shan it was perhaps only under quite ex-
ceptionally fi&vourable conditions that the snow
can acquire that consistency which permits the
ascent of peaks, rising above 16,404 ft. (5,000 m.),
unless indeed it can be made on rocky ground.
Only the lofty rocky crests are for the most part ex-
tremely precipitous, and, as appeared from further
experiences, owing to the influence of excessive
thermal contrasts, so profoundly shattered that
the attempt to scale them often encounters un-
surmountable obstacles. Ascents through rocky
gorges and couloirs have to be avoided on account
of the great risks, incurred from falling stones.
Hence only a very few of the loftiest Tian-Shan
summits hold out favourable prospects to the
Alpine climber.
Bearing this in mind during the subsequent
course of the expedition, I avoided difficult Alpine
undertakings, and henceforth ascended only such
mountains as might from their position offer the
promise of commanding prospects, affording an
insight into the structure of the mountain range,
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SNOW-STORMS 59
and at the same time seemed accessible to ex-
perienced Alpinists without exposure to great
danger.
Meanwhile a period of unfavourable weather had
set in, and all operations were prevented by daily
snow-storms. Tliis obliged me to leave the
Semenoff glacier, the accurate measurement of
which by triangulation was not carried out till
the following year. As we had made sure that
Khan-Tengri does not lie too witliin the basin of
the Mushketoff glacier, I decided at once to pene-
trate into the next great paraUel valley, that of
the Inylchek, and there look for it.
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CHAPTER IV
TO THE INYLCHEK GLACIER AND FARTHER SOUTH
We moved some twenty-three miles down the Sary-
jass valley, which soon loses its picturesque aspect.
Owing to the already mentioned causes, the chain,
skirting the right bank, shows rounded crests,
pierced only by a few upland gorges, but no
glaciers. The left bank still maintains for a
short distance its high Alpine character. It is dis-
posed in separate sections by deep transverse valleys,
harbouring glaciers. These glaciers breaking out
firom the ravines, combined with the glittering
snows of the peaks enclosing them, form a lovely
contrast to the deep green of the main valley and
its slopes, carpeted with Alpine meadows.
The most important of these tributaries is
the Adjrr-tjrr valley, which above its mouth,
turning in a swift course to the east, flows
approximately parallel to the Semenoff valley,
which it nearly rivals in length, breadth, and
wealth of glaciers, and even surpasses in the
height and grandeur of its mountains. Its upper
course is filled by a glacier, which Ignatieff has
named the Mushketoflf glacier, of which more
farther on.
60
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GREEN PRAIRIES 61
The wide green prairies of the Sary-jass, averag-
ing one mile, but in places broadening out to
two miles, showing the character of the treeless
and scrubless upland steppe, display soft rounded
forms, which are due to the old morainic deposits,
fringing the scarps of the valley. Such lateral
moraines on the left side, well preserved in two
stages, accompany at intervals the upper course of
the valley. On the right side, even on the plateau-
like ridges are morainic deposits and debris now
to be seen, frequently also glacier scorings high
up on the rocky walls. The valley-bed is filled
with old ground-moraines, covered by marshy
meadows with small tarns, relics of the large lakes,
which, being dammed up by terminal moraines,
formerly filled the basin-shaped expanses. The
origin of some of these expanses is obviously due to
the lateral erosion of the river. Another, above
the Adyr-t)T valley, has been caused by a kind of
cleavage {Scharuiig\ the ridges receding from each
other in consequence of some sudden change in
the strike of the strata. The phenomenon must
in some way be connected with the already-men-
tioned {xnde p. 42) faults and fractures in the lateral
valleys. At the mouth of the Adyr-tyr valley, over
one verst broad, the granite and the phyUitic rocks
associated with it, disappear below the surface;
the limestones of the chain on the left bank
of the Adyr-tyr valley strike outwards, and form
farther on in the Sary-jass the southern ramparts,
whose ridges hence rapidly diminish in height.
Beyond them the superb glaciated highlands of
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62 THE rNYLCHEK GLACIER
the Kulu-Tau come into view, with an extremely
bold eminence, towering up as a solitary peak.
The slates and marbles, present on the right bank
in flakes are absent on the left bank.
From a broad gap in the limestone range on
the left bank some seven miles below the mouth
of the Adyr-tyr, the copious Tys-ashu river flows
to the Sary-jass, and drains a much-ramified valley
region, not shown on the maps. This group
of valleys lies in a tangle of mountains with a
north-westerly slope, and is enclosed between the
high range, forming the left bank of the Adyr-
tyr valley, trending north-westwards, and the
chain, stretching south-westwards along the right
bank of the Inylchek vaUey. In the obtuse
angle, formed by the two widely diverging chains,
lies an extensive plateau-like nev^, which is
gently inclined, and in both chains develops blunt,
tent-shaped, snowy summits. From the breaks be-
tween these eminences, sweeping round in a wide
ciurve descend flat, trough- shaped ravines, filled with
nev^, and disposing in radiating sections the broad
stretches of land, which slope quite gently down to
the Sary-jass valley. By a lofty plateau ridge,
"Tur," which has escaped all erosive action, the
whole system of valleys is disposed in two groups
— ^that of the Kusgun-ya valleys, which will be dis-
cussed farther on, and that of the Tys-ashu valleys.
Kongul-jol, Achik-tash, Mai-bulak, Tys-ashu I.
and II. are the names of the more important
radiating head-channels, which unite in a main
.stream also called Tys-ashu (Tys-ashu means the
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A SUPERB MORAINIC LANDSCAPE 68
ramifying of a level tract). The tracts of nev^
which lie in the broad, shallow upland troughs of
these valleys are at present separated one fix)m the
other by considerable masses of morainic refuse, dis-
posed in ridges. Two only still show conspicuous
stretches of glaciers, which, however, soon come to
an end amongst the debris of their ground-moraines.
From the whole aspect of the land it is seen at
once that all that now remains of isolated nev^
is but the remnant of a once continuous and very
extensive ice-cap. From these glacial masses was
developed a huge glacier, which formerly spread
over the lower parts of the district, and joined the
at-one-time-mighty Sary-jass glacier. The whole
of the wide Tys-ashu domain, which is amongst
the favourite grazing-grounds of the Kirghiz,
presents a superb morainic landscape of a typical
character, such as is elsewhere rarely to be seen.
The rocky walls, too, are polished to a great height
by glacial action. Standing later on an elevated
position, I was able to ascertain that the great
glacier, to which it owed its existence, was formed
by the combined glacial masses of the southern
border-range of the Mushketoff glacier and the
chain, skirting the north side of the Inylchek
glacier. In the trough-shaped depression of the
Tys-ashu district the hills are literally buried
beneath morainic drift, now covered with swampy
Alpine meadows, so that only in a few places the
rocks are seen cropping out — ^limestone disposed in
narrow folds, stretching northwards, granite, and
phyllitic schists.
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64 THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
Just here the chain on the north side of the
Inylchek valley is greatly depressed, while the
southern range under the same meridian is up-
heaved to one of its highest elevations, one of the
most imposing mountains in the whole Tian-Shan
system. Hence to a person, standing in the lower
part of the Tys-ashu valley, and looking upwards
along the broad, gently rising, trough-like valley,
the deceptive impression is conveyed that the ex-
tensive nev^ at the head of the valley runs straight
up to the wild and precipitous glacial walls of the
huge Inylchek peak, which seems to close the
Tys-ashu valley. What lies between remains
hidden from the eye of the obser\"er. Evidently
this impression misled Professor KrassnofF himself
when, in bad weather too, he penetrated a little
way into the Tys-ashu valley, named by him the
Tesnyk-basy.
He writes {Sapiski, Imp. Russ. G. G. vol.
xix. 1888, p. 89) : " The third glacier, which is
not even mentioned by IgnatiefF, and is omitted
even on his map, is the glacier which lies at the
foot of Tesnyk-basy, perhaps one of the highest
peaks after Khan-Tengri, and bears, like the peak,
the name Tesnyk-basy. This glacier with its
snow-fields is obviously connected with those of the
Inylchek glacier region. The valley of the Tesnyk-
basy, the second affluent of the Sary-jass on the
left, I followed as far as the frontal moriunes of
this glacier, which was evidently but little inferior
to the Mushketoff glacier. To my regret I was
prevented by the bad weather," etc.
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4
i:2i
C2
< u
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THE TYS-ASHU PASS 65
In the dividing wall between Tys-ashu and
Inylchek there occurs an ice-clad pass about
18,800 ft. (4,050 m.), which, as affording the nearest
access to the Inylchek valley, I crossed with the
caravan, though not without some difficulty. This
I call the Tys-ashu pass. During the ascent of the
pass the track lies between limestones and limestone
schists, which have an east-north-east trend, but
in the vicinity of the pass, develop folds dipping
north and with granite cropping out along their
edge. Owing to its close contact with the granite,
very little of its great wealth of fossils has been
preserved by this carboniferous limestone forma-
tion. Nevertheless, by repeatedly crossing the pass
we managed later, to collect some that could be
identified. On the south side of the pass the
limestones are tinged red, calcined, and greatly
disintegrated. There also occur conglomerates
and friction-breccias, indicating the discharge of
eruptive matter from a spot, which I was later
able to locate on the north-east side of the pass
in the neighbouring Kusgun-ya valley.
Flanking the gate-like entrance of the pass
there shoot up hundreds of obelisk-like limestone
crags, into which the masses have been decomposed
by the marvellous action of erosion. If from
these strange surroundings we tmn to the south
and east, we see, some 8,800 ft. (1,000 m.) lower
down, the boulder-strewn floor of the broad trough
of the Inylchek valley, walled round by many-
crested snowy ranges, whose crest-line rises with
an average elevation of over 8,000 ft. (2,500 m.)
5
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66 THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
above the valley bottom. The eye also lights
a little higher up on an ice-field of extraordinary
extent, similarly bordered and stretching away
to the east.
Even though the observer be accustomed to the
sight of the loftiest eminences on the globe, the
Himalayas, Karakorum, etc., a feeling of wonder
and amazement will still be produced by the first
view of the extraordinarily abrupt southern border-
range of the Inylchek valley. Here are unfolded
the mightiest elevations of the Tian-Shan. A
gigantic range, surmounted by the wildest and
most rugged snowy peaks of the most diverse
forms ever sculptured by the creative forces of
nature, is seen stretching away to the east for a
distance of some fifty miles, altogether one of
the grandest Alpine pictures on the globe. Amid
this proud phalanx the most magnificent is one
mountain which rises opposite the pass, the
same that, as already stated, is partly visible
ftt)m the Tys-ashu valley. It is difficult to
conjure up an adequate picture of the mighty,
far-reaching spiu*s of this giant, of the wildness
of its many fractured crests, the splendour of its
precipitous glaciers, carved in a thousand varied
forms and broken into endless fragments. I do
not hesitate to pronounce this marvellous moun-
tain mass, some 21,800 ft. (6,500 m.) high, to
be the grandest in the Tian-Shan. For it an
appropriate name should certainly be foimd. The
Central Tian-Shan attains its highest mean altitude
not, as hitherto supposed, in the southern chain
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THE INYLCHEK GLACIER 67
of the Semenoff glacier, but in this range, whose
crest trends away to the east-north-east at an
average elevation of 18,000 ft. (5,500 m.). From
this point there is a gradual fall of the mountain
mass towards the south. To our surprise, however,
Khan-Tengri, the absolutely highest eminence of
the Tian-Shan, did not appear in this range, and
the question of the position of its actual basis
still remained unsolved.
Seen from the pass the Inylchek glacier already
produces a profound impression, although its lower
section, being for many miles completely covered
with debris, has not at all the air of an ice-stream,
and, owing to the windings of its bed, its whole
course cannot be taken in at a glance. Neverthe-
less, it struck us all at once that IgnatieflTs estimate
(eight miles long) feU far short of the reality,
although the enormous extent of the glacial stream
was not made fiiily evident till the next year's
exploration. The bed of the vaUey beyond the
glacier has an extremely slight incline, and
throughout its upper course, with an average
breadth of a mile, it forms a shingly desert,
completely levelled in by its covering of detritus,
through which the mighty stream ramifies ir-
regularly. Despite this distribution of its volume
the crossing is difficult, as each branch still has
a deep bed of considerable breadth — ^in fact, a
copious and rapid stream. Where these waters
unite in a single arm, at certain reaches of the
middle course, the crossing is possible only in the
early morning. As during the next year I ascended
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68 THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
the valley through its whole length from its con-
fluence with the Saiy-jass to the Tys-ashu pass,
and as in the later part of this report I shall
have to deal with the observaticHis then made,
I will confine myself for the present to a few
details of the physical features of the upper
course.
Here also basin-shaped expanses up to a breadth
of two miles are met with. Such a tract, some
thirteen miles below the lower end of the glacier,
is blocked by a low ridge of limestone schist diffi,
forming a barrier, which with a length of nearly
two miles, stretches obliquely across the bottom of
the valley^ here some two miles wide, so that an
opening of not more than about 500 ft. (150 m.)
is left for the outflow of the waters. On the
extremely disturbed and dislocated rocks of this
old barrier there still lie the remains of old ground
moraines. In this vaUey, too, the old glacial
deposits acquire quite an extraordinarydevelopment.
On the descent firom the Tys-ashu pass we already
meet with them here and there, 1,000 ft (800 m.)
below the level of the pass— that is, 2,000—2,800 ft
(600 — ^700 m.) above the bottom of the valley — and
in like proportions they are seen along the downward
course of the valley. Hence nearly aU the mouths
of the transverse valleys stand very high above the
present bed of the main valley. Of these transverse
valleys, however, only a very few occur throughout
the whole middle and lower course ot this long
river-bed. Owing to the rapid change of climate
after the retreat of the lateral glaciers in the post-
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FLORA 69
glacial epoch, erosion had no longer produced any
great effects in this district, as I have already shown
by other examples {Me pp. 85, 45). In the Inyeklch
valley also, as in the other large longitudinal valleys
and for like reasons that have already been dis-
cussed, the imposing Alpine character is confined
to the southern flanking range, at least in the
ice-free part of the valley.
In the upper course all vegetation, except a
rubble flora, is banished from the bed of the
valley, and confined to the slopes on both sides,
where, however, it is displayed in the sharpest
contrasts. The slope on the right bank, facing
southwards, is treeless and scrubless, and only the
lower part covered with thin stunted, grassy growths,
which assume the aspect of meadows only in a
few tracts, sheltered from intense insolation by the
disposition of the slope. On the other hand, the
slope on the left bank, facing northwards, is decked
with bright Alpine meads, and strangely contrasting
with the woodless Sary-jass valley, even shows some-
what dense patches of pines. This is all the more
remarkable since the Inylchek vaUey, although
it has the same trend as the Sary-jass valley, lies
considerably farther south, and according to my
meteorological records is distinguished by greater
dryness of the atmosphere ; while on the other
hand, in the Sary-jass valley even the slope facing
southwards is carpeted with lovely Alpine meadows,
which are missing in the parts of the Inylchek
valley, enjoying the same aspect. On the contrary,
on the soutiiem slopes of the Inylchek valley pine-
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TO THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
groves are met with, wherever the least mountain
debris has been brought down from the steep
rocky walls of the valley and deposited in cones at
the foot of the cliffs, or where morainic drift lies on
banks and terraces. The discrqmncy of these re-
lations cannot be explained by the nature of the soil,
since the constituent elements of the mountains are
of much the same character in both valleys. For
a distance of about twelve miles on the same
side of the valley a green zone stretches fix)m
the end of the glacier tongue along the foot of
the rocky walls far up in the frigid zone. Short
Alpine grasses, a rich Alpine flora, and, besides
other bushy plants, the Caragana shrub (Siberian
Pea-tree) of dense forest-like growth, form the
chief components of this pleasant floral zone, which
extends right up to the region of pereimial frosts
and is associated vtdth old lateral morainic drift.
Strange to say, for about the same distance (some
twelve miles) the glacier is covered across its whole
average width of about two miles by a moimd of
morainic debris and large boulders at least 450 ft.
(100 m.) high. By atmospheric influences, by the
erosion of the waters and by the movement of the
glacier, this mound has been disposed in ridges and
peaks of the most diverse forms, valleys, troughs,
cauldrons — in a word, every form developed by a
real mountain range. The material for this work
has for the most part been supplied from the
slopes of the chains skirting the main valley and
from those of its ravine-like lateral valleys, which
along the lower course of the glacial stream are
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AN EARTHQUAKE 71
free from ice up to a considerable height. Owing
to the extraordinary fluctuations of the tempera-
ture in this valley, and its southerly position,
the disintegration of the rocks has been carried to
an unusual extent, while the material entering
into the structure of the mountains, here mainly
schists, offers but slight resistance to such
influences. Still, the climatic conditions alone
could not have caused such great effects, had they
not been supplemented by the incredible disturb-
ance of the strata. Here we are in a region of the
most profound and manifold dislocations, which
are exposed in many places on both sides in the
cliffs, skirting the lower course of the glacier.
That seismic movements, however, have not yet
ceased in this region was shown by an earthquake,
which occurred on the morning of August 22nd,
1902, lasting about half a minute, and making itself
felt in three very severe shocks, proceeding from
below upwards. A fearftil, never-to-be-forgotten
spectacle was presented as an immediate result
of this disturbance on the precipitous glaciers of
the gigantic mountain above described, at the foot
of which we had established our headquarters.
Huge masses of ice were set free, and came
tumbling down with an indescribable crash into
the gorges of the huge rocky buttresses, from
which great columns of powdery snow and ice
then rose up to the level of the snowy crests of
the great mountain.
The mound of detritus, piled up on the glacier
is so compact that ice crops out only at the edges,
Digitized by LjOOQIC
72 THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
so that the ice-stream, although it descends lower
than the Semenoff, is thus prevented from thawing,
despite the fact of its penetrating far into a
southern climate. As the melting waters are
forced to seek an underground outlet beneath
the overlying drift, they excavate rudimentary
crevasses at the end of the glacier, scooping them
into hollows, where the water is then collected.
On the advent of the warm season the pent-up
waters seem to occasionally burst their fetters, and
discharge themselves with irresistible force over
the plains, canying with them huge masses of ice.
Even so late as the end of August in the year
1902, and at a distance of two miles from the
glacier, I came upon several blocks of ice as
big as a house in the boulder-strewn Inylchek
valley, exposed though it is to such extreme
insolation. The only explanation I can offer of
such a phenomenon is that above suggested.
A visit to the glacier in two successive years
enabled me to determine the altitude of its lower
end, at about 10,500 ft. (8,200 m.). There were
no indications at all of any recent retreat of the
frozen stream. Its stability is sufficiently ex-
plained by its enormous development, its slight
incline — only about eighty feet per verst — and
compact morainic covering, which itself stands
in close relation with the slight incline.
This mound of detritus necessarily makes the
exploration of the lower section of the glacier
extremely toilsome and fatiguing. In a day's
march one can cover only a few miles. Being
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CRIPPLED RESOURCES 78
unmindful of this circumstance, and also un-
prepared for the vast dimensions of the glacier
from the hitherto published reports of its magni-
tude, and moreover unaware that at this season
the valley is not even visited by the nomad
Kirghiz, I had not brought sufficient supplies
to meet the wants of the party for eight or ten
days, the minimum of the time, required for
profitable work on the glacier. The number of
porters was also insufficient for such undertakings,
while these fellows themselves struck work at
critical moments, and broke out into open revolt
against me. Under such circumstances I was fain
to confine myself to a short excursion in the region
of ice.
The expedition separated into two parties.
Herr Keidel descended the valley with a small
party in order to make a survey of its geological
structure, and with a view to acquiring some
knowledge of the local conditions, he pushed on
to the next large parallel longitudinal valley, the
Kayndy valley, which lay to the south, but was
still entirely unknown, and not even figured on
the maps. As I next year explored this valley
and another, stretching still farther south, informa-
tion regarding them will be found in the later
parts of this report
Herr Pfann and I plodded across the mondnic
mound of the glacier, making very slow progress.
After covering about two miles, we saw, rising
behind the heap of drift, a broad, massive rocky wall,
dark, but capped with nev4. Much farther on, where
Digitized by LjOOQIC
74 THE INYLCHEK GLACIER
the ice begins to be free from debris, this rampart
divides the wide glacial stream into two branches.
When we got a little higher up, a bright, slender
P3n*amid was seen towering into the air, but much
farther back, at the side of the dark mass and
close to its northern flank. We at once recognised
it as the summit of Khan-Tengri. Owing to a
peculiar bend in the axis of the valley and in the
trend of the range, of which the dark rampart
evidently forms part, the interesting picture seems
to the eye shifted in such a way that the observer
remains uncertain as to the grouping of the
mountain ranges and the position of the breach,
from which rises the pyramidal peak. A few
hundred steps farther, and this peak is no longer
seen at all. Still, there was great probability that
it must stand somewhere in the Inylchek valley,
or in one in some way connected with it In
order, therefore, to get a better insight into these
relations, we decided to make our way over to
the left side, bivouac there on the edge of the
glacier, and ascend a lofty summit, rising above
the border-range. From such an elevation we
hoped to get a clear notion, regarding the trend of
the ranges along the valley and the position of
Khan-Tengri, and to be able also to take telephoto-
graphic views, since the unfavoiu-able circumstances,
already mentioned, prevented us for the present
from penetrating farther into the mysterious glacial
region. Leaving the execution of this project to
Herr Pfann, I undertook to investigate the com-
plicated disturbances in the structure of the range ;
Digitized by VjOOQIC
A CLIMATIC PHENOMENON 75
these can be best observed in the fine exposures
of the steep walls on the right side of the vailey.
However, the extremely crumbling state of
the schists forming the rocky crest of the mountain
to be scaled, together with the treacherous con-
stitution of the upland snow, prevented Herr
Pfenn from reaching the smnmit During the
ascent atmospheric disturbances also set in, so that
very little remained visible of the mountain ranges,
A strong atmospheric pressure now prevailed,
heralding snow-storms. To my deep regret I had
in all haste to quit the valley, which I had so
hastily explored, and of which I had seen so little ;
but there was no option if my retreat over the
pass was not to be cut off by the snow. Not
till the next year, when I returned better prepared,
was I successful in unravelling the mystery of the
conformation of this valley, on which more details
will be found in the later parts of this report.
Here I should like just to draw attention to a
peculiar phenomenon in the climatic relations of
the valley. During the five days of my sojourn
in it, there regularly sprang up in the later hours
of the afternoon whirlwinds, which carried aloft
considerable quantities of dust from the ground
and again deposited them as loess on high-lying
ledges and little terraces in the walls along the
margin of the glacier. Extensive banks of this
aeolian precipitation may be observed, especially
along the left edge of the glacier.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER V
FROM THE KAPKAK VALLEY TO THE GREAT
MUSART VALLEY
On out return from the Tys-ashu to the Saiy-
jass valley Herr Pfann and I left the caravan,
and ascended the above-mentioned dividing ridge
between the Kusgun-ya and Tys-ashu groups of
valleys, the Tiu- plateau, about 12,800 ft. (8,750 m.).
Here we saw the pjnramidal peak of Khan-Tengri,
rising above the surrounding ranges far more
boldly than from any of the other, even higher
points hitherto visited. The ranges, however, as
seen thence, seemed to be shifted in quite a
peculiar way, so as to give the impression that
K[han-Tengri rose at the head of a valley with a
north-easterly trend towards the Musart pass, or
a little to the south of this point, but at its
origin apparently connected with the head of the
Inylchek valley. The view was sketched and
photographed, which took up so much time that
we had to pay for our exploring teal by an
exposed bivouac without shelter or provisions,
and did not overtake the caravan till the following
day, after crossing the Kapkak pass, about
12,150 ft (8,700 m.). in the valley of the same
name.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
LUXURIANT GRASSES 77
This valley, running some forty-three miles in
a south to north direction, is amongst the most
important transverse valleys along the upper
course of the Tekes. The Kapkak pass lies at
the converging point of foiu* valleys, as owing to a
lateral thrust ( Vorwerfung) the ranges here diverge
widely from each other. For this reason the
Kapkak river, with its large and widely ramifying
affluents, effects the drainage of a very extensive
territory. The trip across this charming valley
ranks amongst the most enjoyable excursions in
the Tian-Shan. All the elements that combine
to form a romantic Alpine dale are here repre-
sented in the greatest profusion. The pine forests
are magnificent, and contain trees of gigantic size.
The development of the Alpine flora is, next to
that of the Mukur-mutu valley, the richest and
most luxuriant that I have seen in the Tian-Shan,
while the growth of Alpine grasses is astonishing.
Phyllites, granite, syenite, fossiliferous limestones,
and calcareous slates form the geological structure,
which resembles that of the Bayumkol valley,
but owing to the disturbances, that have here
taken place, presents in many respects a special
interest.
For the study of the later vicissitudes of many
Tian-Shan valleys the Kapkak basin offers some
special features, particularly in its lower course.
Although at its head nev^ and ice are at present
quite insignificant, every indication of complete
former glaciation may here be observed. In its
upper course ancient moraines acquired an immense
Digitized by LjOOQIC
78 TO THE GREAT MUSART VALLEY
development, and in its lower course the masses
of fluvioglaeial rubble have in some places been
deeply eroded by the river. Its course, which
formerly lay more to the east, having been shifted
by the resistance of such boulder deposits or by
the ice, the stream has been compelled, in order
to reach the Tekes, to eat its way through a
mighty barrier of hard limestone in a steep im-
penetrable canyon. The waters, formerly dammed
up by glacial drift, have flooded basin-shaped
expanses, thus forming lakes. The side-valleys
which debouch here lie very high. They have been
eroded in trough-like form, and although formerly
enclosing small lakes, are now empty, while their
mouth lies high above the beds of the former lakes
of the main valley. Reasons for this disposition
have already been several times dwelt upon {vide
pp. 85, 45, 69). Later irruption of considerable bodies
of running water may be assumed from the circum-
stance that loose younger conglomerates are found
deposited, high above tertiary formations, like that
lying on the borders of the old basin-shaped
expanses of the Tekes valley. These deposits
extend in places even beyond the tertiary to the
limestones. Besides the tertiary beds we also see,
exactly as in the Tekes valley and at other places,
great quantities of sand and debris, which are
derived from disintegrated and eroded granites.
During the subsequent course of the expedition I
visited the Kara-kul-say, one of the largest lateral
valleys of the Kapkak, in which there is still a lake,
dammed up by old moraines, and in which the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
REPLACING PORTERS 79
indications of those, already vanished, are well pre-
served (see particulars farther on).
Towards the end of August, after my return
to Narynkol, I lost some valuable days there in
exchanging the worn-out horses, and especially in
procuring fresh " Jigits " and porters to replace the
former, to whose refi^actory conduct is partly attri-
butable the fact, that so far the journey had jdelded
such slight results. At last I was able, at the
beginning of September, to return to the Bayxun-
kol valley to resume the previous operations, inter-
rupted by bad weather. I hoped to be favoured
by more settled weather in the advanced season,
when the contrasts of temperature between the
plains and uplands are less pronounced. Unfortu-
nately general atmospheric disturbances took place,
again seriously impeding and dela3rLng our work.
For the same reason the intended ascent of one
of the high snowy peaks at the head of the valley
had to be put off. The only ascent was that of a
granite eminence, about 14,450 ft (4,400 m.), at the
northern edge of the western glacier, from the top
of which a panoramic view of the surrounding
mountain ranges was obtained. Herr Pfann also,
despite the unfavourable weather, was able to
complete the survey of the western glacier, and to
determine the height of the peaks of the border-
ranges from an elevated basis. In the course of
our wanderings in connection with these operations
I came upon a breach about 14,000 ft. (4,250 m.),
free from ice, in the ridge, which separates the
Karakol river, flowing to the Sary-jass (see above)
Digitized by LjOOQIC
80 TO THE GREAT MUSART VALLEY
fix)m the basin of the western Bayumkol glacier ;
and here also 1 obtained a magnificent view of
Khan-Tengri, appearing through a gap in the
southern border-range. In this breach 1 found
five decayed posts, jammed in between rocky
boulders. At first I supposed they might have
belonged to the IgnatiefF expedition, and that the
breach in question was identical with the gap,
which this traveller named the "Narynkol pass,"
and which he states is 18,580 ft high. After,
however, again reading the passage in IgnatiefiTs
report {Isvestiya Btoss. Geograph. Soc. voL xxiiL),
I hesitated as to this assumption, because
IgnatiefF made the descent fix)m the pass down
to a glacier and traversed it lengthways on horse-
back, which for the western Bayumkol glacier
must be pronounced absolutely impossible. Nor
could Narynkol be reached in one day fi:om this
glacier, as is asserted by IgnatiefF. Lastly, the
difference between our two determinations of
height is so great, that these cannot have
reference to the same position. Hence Ignatieff*
must presumably have crossed at some other point.
The western Bayumkol glacier is formed by the
confluence of five glaciers, issuing from recesses
in the walls enclosing the valley, and is much
broken up, especially in its middle course, and
its upper nev^ is likewise much crevassed. Here
it communicates with the Semenoff* glacier by
a snowy saddle about 14,450 ft. (4,400 m.), which I
reached the following year from the SemenofF (see
below), and is also connected with the upper nev^
Digitized by LjOOQIC
HEAVY SNOWFALLS 81
basin of the same Semenoff glacier by the
Semenoff pass (see above). A connection also
undoubtedly existed formerly with the Karakol
glacier, and in the ice age all these glaciers
evidently formed a continuous ice-field. At pre-
sent the ridge between Karakol and Bayumkol is
firee firom ice on the side (south-east), facing the
latter valley, and here the sedimentary rocks (lime-
stone, marble, clay schists) are seen lying finely
exposed in several strata between the granites.
Unusually heavy snowfalls at last drove us
(September 20th) firom the uplands, where no
fodder was any longer procurable for the horses.
The snow already reached down to the Tekes
valley, and I was fain to postpone till the next
year all the explorations in my programme on the
north side of the highlands, and cross over to the
south side, where more favourable conditions might
perhaps permit of more protracted operations.
6
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER VI
NOETHERN MUSAKT VALLEY, MUSART PASS, AND
SOUTHERN MUSART VALLEY
After a few days' preparatory work, the expedi-
tion left Narynkol on September 28rd, in order to
surmount the Great Musart pass, which had
already been traversed by a few Russian ex-
peditions. Von Kaulbars has published some notes
on the topography of the district, and IgnatiefF
on its geology. 1 shall, therefore, in this report
limit myself to some hitherto only partially known
or quite unknown particulars, reserving for the
more detailed account of the journey a series of
physico-geographical observations, for which the
crossing of this pass afforded ample opportunity.
The downward route from Narynkol through the
Tekes valley leads through one of the best-defined
basins of the old frontal lakes which formerly lay
at the base of the mountain range. On the
southern border the outlines of the old terraced
beaches have been excellently preserved. At the
wide entrance to the Musart valley beds of
fluvioglacial deposit form five ancient terraces, and
for several miles, follow the course of the valley
as longitudinal banks, nearly up to the foot of
the mountain mass.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A DISASTER 88
Here, in the vicinity of the first Chinese military
post, where the copious Musart river emerges from
the highlands, it is joined by its equally copious
affluent, the Dondukol (on which more below).
The united stream is not easily crossed, and
through the carelessness of a " Jigit " during the
passage, the expedition met with an accident of
far-reaching consequence. One of the packhorses
stumbled, and his load — ^two tin boxes bought
as " ah'-tight " — ^fell into the water. When fished
out, the contents were found thoroughly saturated.
Amongst them were a great number of large,
exposed "Edward films," shut up in tin boxes,
which were supposed to be " absolutely air-tight."
Relying on this, we omitted to open them im-
mediately after the mishap, and when we did so
later on, it was found that water had penetrated
through, destroying all the films. Sixty views,
6^ by 8 English inches in size, mostly panoramas
and telepanoramas, taken from lofty positions, the
fruits of indescribable toil and care, the main
result of the summer's photographic operations,
geographical docmnents of priceless value, were
irreparably lost. By this disaster the course to
be followed by the expedition in the next year
was in a way already marked out. Records so
important for the topography of the Central
Tian-Shan, could not be dispensed with. It was
necessary above all to revisit the more conspicuous
points, from which the lost photographs had been
taken. However keenly felt the damage was at
the time, still it proved beneficial in the end.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
84 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
Being compelled again to retraverse the uplands
already visited, and being then also more familiar
with all the local conditions, and moreover favoured
by good weather, I was able in the following year
to work better and more successfully than in the
first summer, and in most cases to find the solution
of what had hitherto puzzled me in the structure
of the Central Tian-Shan.
At the entrance of the Great Musart valley
is seen a vast series of chloritic schists, often inter-
stratified with phyllitoid schists. Just before emerg-
ing from the highlands, the river breaks through
masses of red granite, which are followed higher
up by a narrow zone of gneiss. But aphanites are
soon developed over a wide area, and farther up
the valley, where they again approach a granite
stratum, they assume more and more the char-
acter of schists. These schists, with an almost
northerly strike (N. by 10° E., which for this region
is abnormal), have been thrown into irregular
narrow folds. Pressure-phenomena occur also in
the granite, which not infi^uently assumes the
form of granitic gneiss. Limestones and clay-
slates, cropping out between the granites, have,
owing to dynamo-metamorphic processes, been
pressed, the former into schistose, the latter into
crystalline forms. More regular conditions do not
appear till far back in the valley, where a normal
easterly trend (N. by 7"* E.) is resumed. Here
the granite occurs under very diversified forms,
even as porphyritic granite, and in some parts
is replaced by syenite. Over a somewhat wide
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE VALLEY 85
zone it is followed by gneiss and other crystalline
schists. Yet the nearer we approach the head of
the valley the more prevalent become dark, more or
less crystalline limestones, clay-slates, and marbles,
from which, as in the other large valleys, are
exclusively built up the sections of the crests, be-
longing to the main water-dividing range. Here,
however, also occur great masses of dolomitised
limestones, which present the same bold and
fantastic simimits as we are familiar with in the
dolomitic limestone highlands of South Tjrrol,
and under these forms they flank the defile of
the Musart pass southwards throughout nearly
its whole length.
The Great Musart valley, as far as it lies within
the highlands, has a length of from thirty-six to
forty miles, and is distinguished from the other
large Central Tian-Shan valleys by the somewhat
steeper incline of its bed (average about ninety to
ninety-five feet per mile). At the outlet of the
river from its narrow upland course, about 6,200 ft.
(1,900 m.) great quantities of fluvio-glacial drift are
deposited on both sides of the valley, where they
form terraces {vide p. 28). At the confluence of the
Dondukol (not Maralta, as it is wrongly called by
Ignatieff), which here joins the main stream at an
obtuse angle, these terraces either intersect or are
piled up against similar formations deposited by
this affluent. Like other Tian-Shan valleys, that
of the Great Musart is likewise disposed in basin-
shaped expanses, which are connected by gorge-like
narrows. These narrows are for the most part
Digitized by LjOOQIC
86 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
choked by old moraine deposits, through which the
river has everywhere cut itself deep channels, which,
however, rarely reach down to the bed-rock. In
the basin-shaped expanses the moraine debris is
found deposited for the most part on the left bank
in step-like terraces, rising one above the other.
During the ascent the traveller wanders along
the picturesque valley on the slopes of the left
bank, decked with magnificent pine groves,
especially in the middle course, exclusively over
Alpine meads and forest-bearing old morainic
soiL In several places the old terminal moraines
are of enormous dimensions. At the confluence
of the Khamer-davan, about 7,900 ft. (2,400 m.),
of which more farther on, lies the largest of these
beds, which has a width of nearly two miles and
forms a huge mound in the valley. Another
nearly as large lies about seven miles higher up,
at an altitude of some 8,400 ft (2,600 m.), and
still maintains a height of 250 ft. above the level
of the valley. The morainic drift is conspicuous
to a considerable height on the walls of the valley,
while ice-worn rocks and roches mmitonn^s may
be observed on the face of the cliffs. Here also,
besides several deeply eroded lateral valleys of
ancient origin— Dondukol, Khamer-davan, Atun-
bulak, etc. — one can distinguish a series of high-
lying trough-shaped, younger valleys with cirques
at their heads, and the mouths of which are raised
high above the present bed of the main stream,
thus indicating the former level of the chief glacier,
which once filled up the whole valley. They still
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A WILD GLACIAL STREAM 87
retain small glaciers. A peculiar phenomenon
in this wind-sheltered valley is the deposit of
loess-like beds of considerable thickness (fifty to
sixty feet) on old morainic terraces. They appear
to be formations of fluvial origin, although showing
a resemblance to aerial loess. About half-way up
the valley there occur hot springs (48'' C), near
which the Kalmuks have built some primitive
huts, while utilising them as medical baths. They
well up in the valley-bed at the level of about
8,400 ft (2,550 m.), in the zone, where crystalline
schists and granites come in contact with greatly
disturbed limestones.
At the point where the valley-bed describes a
semicircular curve of short radius towards the
east, the range on the right bank, apparently
shutting in the valley, rises to a series of bold
lofty peaks, about 18,000 fL (5,500 m.), which,
owing to their northerly exposure, tower with
their fronts completely enveloped in snow and
ice, superbly above a darkly-wooded old moraine.
At their foot the wildest of the big glacial streams,
that I have seen in the Tian-Shan, bursts out from
a lateral valley, coming from the east, and is dis-
solved into a series of wonderful cataracts, with
thousand-fold seracs. This glacier on reaching the
bottom of the main valley turns northwards, and
ends at a height of 9,000 ft (2,750 m.), a little
above the third Chinese post, where it is separated
from the main stream by a huge lateral moraine,
which it has here deposited. Judging from the
height of this morainic ridge (up to 200 ft.), from the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
88 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
immense size of the boulders, consisting exclusively
of light dolomitic limestone and marble, and from
the great thickness of the ice at its tongue, this
still unexplored glacial stream must be of great
length. Beyond doubt it has its source at the
dividing ridge, by which the head of one of the
upper affluents of the Agiass, which flows north
to the Tekes, is separated from the Musart valley,
From there also — ^that is to say, from the main
crest of the Khalyk-Tau in the east — ^stretch the
dolomitic limestones and marbles, composing the
above-mentioned lofty snowy peaks, and abutting
here on the granites and gneisses. The protection,
afforded by this rampart with its northerly
face, has secured an exceptionally mild climate
to the part of the valley, lying behind, despite
its great elevation (9,200 ft, ; 2,800 m.) The
result is seen in a wonderfully beautifiil bush
and forest vegetation, ranging right up to the
glacier ice.
The Musart pass is a "wall-pass," whose ir-
regular flat top has an extent of over ten miles.
From the north side, the oscent, which starts from
the elevated terraces at the head of the northern
Musart valley (about 9,500 fL ; 2,900 m.), is short
and steep up to the plateau; the descent to the
south, down to the Tamga-tash post (about 9,050 ft. ;
2,760 m.) is long and gradual, excepting a few
steep steps, so that the two sections are imlike.
An anomaly is seen in the fact that the glacier
on the north is short, while that on the south
side is very extensive. The Yalin-Khanz)m glacier.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
THE JIPARLIK GLACIER 89
descending northwards, is now merely an insignifi-
cant remnant of a formerly extensive ice-stream.
It terminates at a level of about 10,200 ft.
(8,100 m.), and is almost entirely covered with
detritus, so that a little ice is visible only at the
confluences of small lateral glaciers. The watershed
between it and the Jiparlik glacier, descending
southwards, is almost obliterated. Owing mainly
to the very shifting accumulations of morainic drift,
it is difficult to determine the culminating point
of the pass. We considered this to coincide with
a small plateau, whose altitude was calculated by
a preliminary survey at about 11,480 ft. (8,500 m.).
Ignatieffs figure is 12,240 ft. (8,780 m.).
Near the top of the pass on its southern slope
the mighty Jiparlik glacier descends from the east-
north-east. The glacial stream where it covers
the highest plateau of the pass is nearly free from
ddbris, and over a slightly inclined stretch of
several versts the surface ice is divided into millions
of tiny, tent-shaped knolls, the origin of which is to
be attributed to peculiar melting processes. As far
as the eye can penetrate up the course of the glacier,
from 800 to 400 m. or about 1,200 ft broad, high
snowy mountains (limestone and marble) are visible
along its margins. But owing to a bend in the
valley the source itself cannot be seen. It seems
to lie in the same dividing ridge as the already
mentioned large glacier, which joins at the bend
of the main stream. Near its outlet on the
plateau of the pass, an arm of the chief glacier,
branching off to the south-west, stretches obliquely
Digitized by LjOOQIC
90 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
across the plateau, and disappears in an opening
facing the south-west in the wall of the west
margin. The main glacier itself trends, with an
average breadth of one and a half miles, first
south-eastwards, then southwards, and terminates
at a height of about 9,500 ft. (2,900 m.) in a
tongue (now rapidly retreating) above the Tamga-
tash post. Here a waterfall bursts out through
a gate-like aperture in the ice-walL At the time
of my visit, above the lowest cavity were still to
be seen two other, quite similar but empty cave-
like outlets, standing one above the other in the
terminal wall of the glacier. Hence the stream
had evidently cut its bed deeper and deeper in the
ice. Its waters had once been danuned up in
a morainic lake about two miles long and one
mile wide in front of the glacier. As far as the
glacier covers the plateau of the pass on its gently
inclined southern slope, the ice is almost hidden by
a coating of debris ; where it shows itself it is beset
with a very large number of funnels, in each of
which lie one or more large boulders, whose great
absorption of heat gave rise to these hollows. On
the rocky enclosing walls, over 8,800 ft. (1,000 m.)
high, the traces may everywhere be noticed of the
grinding force of the glacier ice, indicating how it
formerly completely filled the upland valley. On
the left bank, at the foot of an ice-polished marble
wall 1,800 ft. (400 m.) high, the ruins of a rfiazar
and of the Mazar-bashi post stand on a rocky, gently
inclined terrace. At this point, where a lateral
glacier debouches, the main glacier breaks with a
Digitized by LjOOQIC
(5
Digitized by CjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A TERRIBLE PASSAGE 91
fall of about 850 ft. to a lower terrace, where its
glacial masses are dissolved in wild seracs, horns,
and pinnacles, separated by yawning chasms. This
is the famous passage which has been a terror for
hundreds of years, and cannot be surmounted by
the caravans without the aid of the guards at the
Tamga-tash post, who have excavated regular stair-
cases in the icy pinnacles. But the skeletons of
pack-animals, strewn about in large numbers, show
how great are the perils of the passage, despite all aid.
Nevertheless, this pass is still relatively the easiest
for communication between the north and south
sides. A caravan, floundering amid this maze of icy
turrets presents a strange spectacle. At the foot
of the succeeding glacial terrace an extensive lake
occupies a hollow in the ice near the left bank.
The whole length of the Jiparlik glacier cannot
be estimated at less than sixteen miles.
It has already been pointed out that dolomite
limestone, carved into exceptionally bold peaks,
together with white marble, forms the prevailing
constituent of the ramparts, flanking the Musart
pass. These light-coloured masses stand in sharp
contrast with the dark jagged walls of highly meta-
morphosed eruptive rocks, which uninterruptedly
accompany the metamorphic sedimentary beds
from the head of the defile in the north down
to its southern end and far beyond it, both sets
of strata sharing in the later contortion, of which
extraordinary instances are here and there grandly
exposed. Owing to the prevalence of a north-
easterly trend with a marked incline to the east,
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92 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
gneiss and syenite are noticed only on the north
side of the pass.
The route through the southern Musart valley,
which has a length of about sixty miles, with a
breadth of from one to two miles, presents great
interest in two respects. In the first place, there
are the tremendous dislocations, to which not only
the igneous rocks (gneiss, granite, syenite), but also
the sedimentary formations, have all been sub-
jected, and then the great masses of eruptive rock
(diorite, porph3rrite) which have burst through
both series. A more carefiJ study of the con-
ditions observed will be needed, before it can be
decided whether the disturbances were in the first
instance caused by the intrusive igneous rocks, and
hence were to a certain extent local, or whether
the whole masdf was affected by wide-ranging
convulsions, followed or accompanied by the in-
trusion of the magma in the chasms thus formed.
Here, too, as is so often the case, the zone of
contact awakens the deepest interest. Extensive
metamorphic phenomena are seen, not only in
the contact zone of the erupted matter with the
sedimentary and old crystalline rocks, but also
where these two are found associated together.
During our second visit to the valley, Herr
Keidel made a complete collection of specimens
from the contact zones.
In the southern Musart valley granite, syenite,
gneiss, etc., occur, only at greater distances from
the central ranges than in any of the northern
and southern transverse valleys, visited by me — ^that
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GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE 98
is, only in the outer section of the valley, up to
where sedimentary rocks alone enter into the
structure of the highlands. Gneisses are far more
extensively developed than had hitherto been sup-
posed. Between the Khailik-Mabuse and Tograk
posts they form an uninterrupted zone three miles
long, sharply limited at both ends. Chloritic and
highly metamorphosed schists are interstratified
with granites. The limestones too, occuring
here, became more or less crystalline. The walls
of the ranges, running obliquely to the trend of
the valley, often perpendicularly cut to a height of
4,900 ft. (1,500 m.) and more, show in their strata
the most remarkable and diversified bendings,
crumplings, and foldings of the vertically disposed
sedimentary beds even down to the minutest
wrinkles, with exposures on the grandest scale, and
always most pronounced in the neighbourhood of
intruding dioritic rocks. In some places the
intrusion of the magma is in dykes, accompanied
by extensive apophysic formations. Despite the
dynamic effects, accompanying the powerftd dis-
location of the sedimentary beds, Herr Keidel
succeeded in finding a limestone bed that had
been spared, and in it collected a faima belonging
to the upper carboniferous age. This justifies the
conclusion that these limestones of the middle and
lower valley, and the crystalline masses between
which they rest, are ftom a tectonic point of view
to be separated from the older palaeozoic lime-
stones of the head of the valley and fix)m the
metamorphic eruptive rocks, folded together with
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94 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
them. Old crystalline conglomerates begin to
occur in the second section of the valley, but do
not appear in larger masses till near its outlet,
where they are associated with sandstones and
metamorphic schists between the lateral Ak-topa
and Moro-khotan valleys. Exposures in walk
1,800—1,600 ft. (400—500 m.) high also reveal
in these conglomerates extraordinary strains and
twists in the strata. The great pressure is attested
by blocks of conglomerate, which are strewn
about, and whose constituents have been crushed
out lengthwise. These conglomerates also form the
slope of the range, facing the valley of the Musart-
daria, flowing to the east, of which more farther
on. A few miles beyond, where we struck south
firom the Musart, sandstones again occur on the
slope of the range facing the steppe at the mouth
of the Kash-bulak valley. These are compressed
in close folds together with coarse, schistose-
calcareous and fine conglomerates like grauwacke,
and in places contain fractured, laminated, shiny
carboniferous clay slates (Lettenkohlenschiefer),
elsewhere even real anthracite.
No less interesting than the peculiar geological
features of the Musart valley are the indications
of its former extensive glaciation. If in this valley,
trending southwards, the old morainic deposits are
seen in much larger quantities and less destroyed
than in the great glacial valleys on the north side,
the explanation, as ah-eady rightly suggested by
Ignatieff, is that in the north, owing to. the very
extensive glaciation, which to a considerable extent
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OLD MORAINES 95
even now continues, the old masses of boulder drift
were for a long period, and are to the present day,
exposed to the vigorous erosive action of the melt-
ing waters. Here in the south, on the contrary,
where the present glaciation is relatively slight,
the climate much dryer, and in any case, even
in the post-glacial period, was subjected to more
rapid changes than in the north, the destructive
and obliterating forces were less effective in the
interior of the valleys.
Here we see first of all that in some places the
valley was blocked by old frontal moraines, and
elsewhere by the accumulation of diluvial deposits
at natural constrictions, forming six basin-like
expanses, which represent so many former lakes.
In the second basin, morainic drift lies on high
terraces, from 1,000 to 1,800 ft. (800 — 400 m.)
above the level of the valley, while scorings on
the surface of the rocky walls here, as farther
out in the valley, extend considerably higher
up. In some places, as in the fourth basin, the
foot of the mountain barrier is literally buried
in morainic drift up to a considerable height,
and this ddbris forms, for a distance of one and
a half miles, a compact covering of the broad
channel of the valley still over 200 ft. thick,
although much of it has already been swept
away. There, dry weathering has reduced the
boulders (marbles, limestones) to sand and dust,
above which the still remaining blocks partly
project. By these products of weathering a long
stretch of the valley has been transformed to a
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M MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
real sandy desert, whose dune-like eminences are
bound together by plants of genuine desert type.
The finer particles have been borne aloft and
deposited as loess on elevated terraces, where they
often attain a thickness of from forty to fifty feet
At the Khailik-Mabuse camping-ground, about
8,180 ft (2,480 hl), old morainic drift rises some
1,800 ft (400 m.) above the level of the valley.
But the greatest accumulations are found in the
neighbourhood of the Tograk post, about 7,700
ft (2,850 m.), where exceptionally huge masses
of drift have been deposited by the Tograk-
Yailak, which joins on the right bank. These
were heaped up on those of the chief glacier,
whereby the detritus was raised to the enormous
height of from 1,600 to 2,000 ft (500—600 m.)
against the opposite mountain walL Here the
valley is blocked by a barrier of morainic debris
some 650 ft (200 m.) high, through which the
river cuts its way in a romantic gorge several
miles long. While on the moraines, so £ar
described, the boulders consist of marble and
limestone, here scarcely any but gneiss blocks
are seen, which aeolic excavation (corrugation)
has fiEishioned into thousands of frmtastic forms.
Below Tograk the lateral Jin-Jilga valley joins on
the left side, and from the confluence the gigantic
ground-moraine of the old glacier projects in ex-
cellently preserved form fiur into the main valley.
The immense masses of shifted debris, however,
cannot be derived from this lateral glacier alone,
since they extend as a rampart a distance of six
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ENORMOUS DEPOSITS OF DRIFT 97
to eight miles downward from 180 to 160 ft
above the level of the river, which has cut its
bed deeply into them. The conformation of the
momitain range here indicates rather that the
gigantic glacier, which has deposited all this
detritus, once overflowing the left, here greatly
depressed, scarp of the valley, descended from
more elevated parts of the Khalyk-Tau in the
east. At the last post also (Koneshar, not
Kunya-Shar, as it is called in the forty-verst
map) the main valley, about 6,900 ft. (2,100 m.),
was blocked by morainic drift, which on the left
side envelops the mountain waUs some distance up.
That the old glaciers also extended out into
the plain is shown, not only by the morainic
mounds, which lie at the foot of the range, where
it bends towards the east, and which were crossed
the next year by the expedition on the route along
the Khalyk-Tau (on this see below), but also by
the enormous deposits of shifted glacial drift,
including boulders, which to a thickness of several
hundred feet still extend for over twenty miles
out into the plain, here partly forming closed
plateaux, partly disposed by erosion in little ridges
of manifold shape. I must here lay stress on the
fact that these last-mentioned deposits differ in
some essential features from those formations
for which M. Bogdanovich has introduced the
term "Kuren" {Trudi Tibetskoi Eoopedizii^ p. 88
et seq.). These masses have been preserved in a
region, where erosion, dispersion, and denudation
have operated more vigorously than in most other
7
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98 MUSART VALLEY AND PASS
lands. Granite boulders I found strewn over
the desert more than twenty-six miles distant
from the foot of the mountains.
The lateral valleys of the southern Musart
valley, whose parched soil is traversed by a
potent stream fix)m which it no longer derives
any appreciable fertility, still contain a con-
siderable store of glacier ice, where rise lofty
and magnificently glaciated ranges, the most
superb and richest in glaciers being in the
Turpal-che valley, in the cirque-like Chiran-toka
valley, in the Serakh-su valley, Tograk-Yailak,
etc. Into these valleys the pinewoods also have
retreated from the almost dried-up main valley,
and where they appear, present the finest contrast
to the desert character of the main valley. In
this we see one of the most remarkable upland
valleys, remodelled by tectonic movements, and
the action of ice, water, and wind, a juxtaposition
of steppe and desert amid grandiose Alpine sur-
roundings. Many other physical features would
have still to be dwelt upon to complete the
picture. But this would exceed the limits of this
preliminary report.
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CHAPTER VII
FROM THE MUSART VALLEY TO KASH6AR
Our intention to continue our work a little longer
in the highlands of the great lateral valleys of
the southern Musart river could not be carried
out, as the valley offered no supplies, either for our
men or the pack-animals. Hence the expedition
could only be regularly provisioned fipom a station,
lying far beyond the district, but for the organisa-
tion of such supplies there was no longer time
at this advanced season of the year. The plan
was therefore postponed to the spring of the
next year, and we took the route, which leads out
of the valley to the town of Ak-su, and then
for a stretch of about twelve miles, intersects
the ranges of the Topa-davan tertiary uplands
between the Lyangar and Abad posts.
As I am not aware of anything, having .yet been
published on these uplands or altogether on the
tertiary formations at the southern foot of this sec-
tion of the Tian-Shan, I may here give some details
on the subject. In the structure of the Topa-
davan range the same red sandstones are ex-
hibited, that we meet with in the tertiary of
the Tekes plain and elsewhere, besides red, salt-
bearing clays and marls, with gypsuni-bearing
99 \ i •^:* :V:
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100 MUSART VALLEY TO KASHGAR
marls in some places, and lastly conglomerates
of light and dark limestones. The whole mamf
has a general west-north-west trend, and in some
places is distinguished by narrow intricate foldings.
Although the mountains are in smnmer and
autumn waterless, they have been carved into
several ranges by the powerful erosion of running
water, setting in with the melting of the snows
and acting all the more vigorously on the
mountain mass since it is built up of easily soluble
materials, aided also by atmospheric influences,
especially wind. The action of all these agencies
is helped by the narrow foldings and the vertical
disposition of the strata. By such forces these
ranges have again been sculptured into a number
of the most diversified crests, often affecting the
most fantastic forms.
In these clay and marly uplands we again find,
crowded together in a narrow, readily overlooked
space, the same varied features in valley and
hollow, the same manifold conformation of
mountain and surface as are presented by the
high ranges in wide inaccessible areas, of which
we can obtain no comprehensive view. Many
of the processes that there took place in a large
way, have here been repeated on a small scale.
In a word, the mountain-shaping and mountain-
destrojring forces have combined to produce a
relief, which offers an instructive object-lesson
on orographic structure, so far as regards the
diversified character of the surface modelling. I
later explored tji? tertiary highlands west, north.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE TOPA-DAVAN 101
and north-east of Kashgar, which are built up of
similar materials, and also surveyed the Chul-Tau,
a southern prolongation of the Topa-davan (on
which subjects more will be found farther on) ;
but however varied may be the articulation of
the surface in some parts of those districts, it
nowhere displayed such varied features as the
Topa-davan. Its average altitude, rising gradually
from east to west, is 5,250 ft. (1,600 m.). While
the first foothills only reach a height of from 100 to
180 ft. above the almost table-like level surface of
accumulated rubble, those approaching the south-
west border rise to over 650 ft. (200 m.) above
it. Here we are often surprised at the sight
of perpendicular mountain walls, about 500 ft
(150 m.) high, which are formed of a single layer
of clay, honey-combed like a sieve by the decom-
position of easily soluble inclusions.
At the Abad post, about 5,100 ft. (1,550 m.), near
the south-western border, there occurs a tortion of
the axis, combined with a change in the trend — ^the
ridges of the Chadan-Tau, which run from south-
west to north-east, here converging with those
of the Topa-davan, which run west-north-west.
With this change are connected serious dis-
turbances in the lie of the strata. Salt occurs
especially on the south-west border in troughs and
cavities in the form of efflorescences, which acquire
a thickness of up to twenty inches, and are ex-
ploited by the Chinese. The mountains appear to
terminate abruptly towards the desert, because the
low ridges of the outer folds are completely buried
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102 MUSAHT VALLEY TO KASHGAR
beneath a mass of detritus, several hundred feet
thick.
The road from Abad through Jam to Ak-su
may be passed over as well known. I also
omit any remarks on the long stretch from Ak-su
through Maral-bashi to Kashgar, although offering
occasion for many interesting observations, since
it has already been to some extent described by
other travellers, as, for instance, most recently
by Sven Hedin.
On October 18th, 1902, the expedition took up
its winter quarters in Kashgar, fi*om which place
Herr Pfann and the preparator, Herr Russel, set
out on the homeward journey. As the southern
border-ranges of the Tian-Shan often remain free
from snow even in winter, as was particularly
the case in the winter of 1902-08, we ultilised
this season, despite the intense cold, to make
some excursions to that region, chiefly for the
purpose of collecting palaeontological specimens.
This object was also effected, thanks to the
collecting zeal of Herr Keidel, and we returned
to Kashgar loaded with rich spoils.
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CHAPTER VIII
EXCURSIONS ON THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIAN-
SHAN TO COLLECT PALAEONTOLOGICAL MATERLA.LS
The first excursion led us to the Toyun valley, at
first through the narrow gorges of the "Artysh
strata" — made known by the publications of
Stoliczka and Bogdanovich, — ^which attain so great
a development at the southern foot of the Tian-
Shan. Amid these profoundly disturbed strata lies
a group of large villages which bear the collective
name of Artysh.
In August 1902, not long before our arrival,
earthquakes had almost utterly ruined both this
and the other group, collectively known as Altjm-
Artysh, which lies farther east on the southern
border of the tertiary range, and was likewise
visited by us. These places, now lying in ruins,
presented a sad spectacle. For a wide space the
ground was seen torn by rents and fissures, and
in some places little mud volcanoes were noticed.
In connection with these events the study of the
" Artysh strata," as they are called, was of special
interest to us. Later conglomerates, discordantly
overlying these marly-clay and sandstone strata
likewise exhibit indications of considerable dis-
location. Even in very recent conglomerates,
108
Digitized by LjOOQIC
104 SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIAN-SHAN
dislocations were observed by us in several
districts, especially in the Kurumduk valley, lying
to the east of Altyn-Artysh. There can be no
doubt that the seismic movements appearing in the
upfolding of the Artysh strata, which are referred by
Bogdanovich to the pliocene epoch, were continued
in later formations, and persist to the present day
(more on this in the detailed report). In the
district, already mentioned, such movements led
to the almost complete destruction of fix>m ten
to twelve populous villages which, standing on
well-watered loess terraces, occupy the richest
and most productive tracts in the neighbourhood
of Kashgar. The epicentrum of the seismic
forces nearly coincides with Artysh-bazar, and
the destructive effects of the earthquake waves,
radiating from this point, made themselves felt
even in the city of Kashgar and its environs. We
were able to follow these movements, somewhat
weakened but still very destructive, over a wide
area, up the Toyim valley, in the Maydan-Gess
valley, farther east in the Kurumduk valley, and
later even still farther east.
During our stay in Kashgar, more or less
violent and destructive underground shocks were
of such daily occurrence that one grew accustomed
to them.
In the Toyim valley Devonian fossils were
found, partly in the places already visited by
Stoliczka and Bogdanovich, north of the Chou
Terek grazing ground (not village), partly in other
districts. On the whole, however, the finds were
Digitized by LjOOQIC
FOSSILS 105
not great, although we pushed northwards far be-
yond Yakub Beg's old fortified post of Chakmak.
On the other hand, we ascertained the presence of
erupted basaltic rocks in the zone of the most
violent dislocations, in the schists and also in the
sandstones, which are embedded in them, and
are, by Bogdanovich, referred to the tertiary
epoch, all at a considerable distance to the south
of the localities, where they had been found by
Bogdanovich (Suyok valley) and by Stoliczka
(Chakmak) ; for further details see below.
During the following excursion our collecting
work was more fruitful. The route led by
Altyn-Artysh northwards, up the vast tertiary
basin of Argu, which was formerly flooded by a
lake and still shows well-preserved terraces. It
was approached through a narrow portal cut into
a rampart of conglomerate 650 ft. (200 m.) high,
and was quitted by a similar outlet, leading into
the Tangitar ravine, by which are reached the
basin-shaped expanses of the former large lakes
Tegermen and Arkogak, which follow from west
to east, one a stage higher than the other.
Stoliczka found some fossils north of Yakub
Beg's barrier fort of Tangitar, consequently north
of the gorge through which the river forces its
way. The places where we made our great finds
lie, some a little to the west of the old fort,
some south of it. The fauna is probably partly
Devonian, partly carboniferous.
Most surprising is the thickness of the con-
glomerates immediately before and beyond the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
106 SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIAN-SHAN
place, where the Tangitar river breaks through
the carboniferous limestones in a romantic gorge
fix>m fifty to sixty-five feet wide, which winds for
some two and a half miles between almost vertical
walls, and escapes to the rocky Tangitar cirque.
Although partly worn away, the conglomerates, in
which are often embedded huge boulders, here rise
in places up to 1,150 ft. (850 m.) above the level
of the valley on the limestone walls, and project,
as mighty buttresses £eu* into the plain. Beyond
the gorge, ancient valley terraces {Ldngsstufen) are
seen in these conglomerates, which are over-lain
by loess to a considerable thickness.
In the vast Tegermen basin, where no water
now flows, except a narrow rivulet, deposits of
shingle are of such enormous thickness that they
partly hide the foot-ranges of the mountains, to
such an extent that only a few of their cones and
domes rise like islands above the overlying drift.
In the left scarp of the basin Herr Keidel
found upper carboniferous brachiopods, and in
a narrow gorge Devonian corals. The bed of
the extensive Arkogak basin, formed by level
accumulations of rubble, is reached by a breach
in the low range and over a broad sill of the
soil. We followed the second basin a long way
in a north-easterly direction. By a lateral valley,
branching o£F to the east and draining indirectly
to the Kurumduk river, access is gained to the
extensive Bash-Sugun pastures of the Kirghiz.
A bed of coarse, white limestone, containing a
mass of excellently preserved fossils, was found
Digitized by LjOOQIC
BRACHIOPODS 107
in the limestones of the ramparts, enclosing the
Sugun valley, which are of very diversified
character and exhibit complex stratified con-
ditions. Here we were able to obtain a rich upper-
carboniferous fauna of brachiopods, representing
about fifty species in several hundred specimens.
Bash-Sugun was already known from the fossils
found by Stoliczka (E. Suess, Contributions to
the Stratigraphy of Central Asia). But whether
the locality, exploited by us, is identical with
Stoliczka's seems doubtfiil when we consider
that this explorer found only a few, apparently
lower-carboniferous fossils in this place, whereas
such an accumulation of organic remains as occurs
at our " storehouse " could scarcely have escaped
the trained eye of the distinguished naturalist.
On the further journey to the south-east through
the Sugun valley, which here contracts and forms
a series of small, cauldron-shaped expanses con-
nected only by narrow passages, we noticed ex-
tensive intrusions of basaltic rocks in the form of
domes, but also in dykes. Shattering breccias and
conglomerates also occur, while the surrounding
limestones have been greatly metamorphosed.
The outbreak of basaltic rocks, ascertained by us
as occurring in this region, as well as in various
localities on the extreme southern border of
the Tian-Shan, show that their intrusion is not
confined to the line of fault, assumed by Bogda-
novich to exist on the northern slope of the
Kok-tan range {TrudU^ etc. p. 72). Such basalts
were found by us not only at the already-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
108 SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIANSHAN
mentioned places in the Toyun valley (see p. 105),
but also in the fiuihest off-shoots of the mountains
at Tagh-Tumshuk» not fiur from Maral-bashL
Throuj^ a breach, a hundred feet wide, the
Sugun river continues its easterly course and
debouches to a spacious valley, about two miles
broad, which in its turn again trending to the south-
east, falls into the Kurumduk river. It should be
noticed that the delineation of this region on all
the maps known to me, especially the hydrographic
system between the plateau of Tegermen and the
Sugun district, and the continuation of this river
system through the Kurumduk and right out into
the Kaldy-Yailak plain, does not even remotely
correspond with the actual facts. From Ayak-
Sugun, which lies at the confluence of the already-
mentioned lateral valley with the Kurumduk, we
made our way to Sugun-KarauL The route
from the Kurumduk valley (which was itself
traversed only for a short distance) to the plateau
at the southern foot of the mountains, leads for
over sixteen miles through narrow winding defiles
across that section of the tertiary highlands, con-
sisting of soft clays and marls, which have been
subjected to the most profound shiftings of leveL
Owing to this fact it has been shattered, and, for
the most part, buried beneath its own debris to
an extent that has elsewhere been rarely observed.
Before the marls lies a thick zone of very fine, hard
conglomerates, which extend for two miles into
the desolate, high Kaldy-Yailak plain.
I was now obliged, during the prevalence of the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE GESS VALLEY 109
severest winter weather, to undertake the long and
difficult journey to Tashkent. Here I had to
procure the instruments and photographic materials,
long before ordered in Europe, to complete our
equipment, and also to direct a second Alpine
guide by telegraph from his home to Kashgar,
where there is no telegraphic communication with
Europe or even Turkestan and only a very defec-
tive and tedious postal service. I took the route
over the Terek-davan (Irkishtam — 28** C, Kok-su
— 28° C). As this route has already been several
times described, and most recently by Futterer
{Through Asia), I may here pass over the observa-
tions that I made on my journey, though they
present many points of interest.
During my absence Herr Keidel occupied him-
self with the investigation of the loess deposits
in the Kashgar-daria valley, and also made an
excursion to the southern border of the Kashgar
basin. The way led through Boruk-tai to Tash-
malik; a rich fossil fauna was discovered south-
west of this place. From Tash-malik Herr Keidel
went on to the Gess valley, which he followed
up to Ak-chiu, where he made a collection of
fossil plants of the Angara series in the coal-beds,
worked in a primitive fashion by the Kirghiz.
The return journey was made through Eski and
Yangi-Hissar. A second excursion to Bash-
Sugun, undertaken towards the end of February,
had for its object the completion of the geological
collection by a study of other levels in the local
limestones. In the finds here made, various stages
Digitized by LjOOQIC
110 SOUTHERN EDGE OF TIAN-SHAN
of the carboniferous age are represented. Some
specimens of the species of the Bash-Sugun famia
fomid their way to Calcutta, where they were
recognised in the Geological Survey Office of
India as corresponding with the Productus Lime-
stones of the Punjab Salt-range.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER IX
THE SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-8HAN BETWEEN
KASHGAR AND UCH-TURFAN
At the begiiming of March I was back in Kashgar
from Tashkent, where, through the kindness of
His Excellency the Governor-General, two valiant
young Kossacks were placed at my disposal as es-
corts. At last, after much trouble, diverse bad
incidents and unpleasant delays, the new Alpine
guide, Sigmimd Stockmayer of Neukirchen in
Pinzgau (Salzburg), arrived with a portion of the
instruments and materials that had been ordered.
After completing all the other troublesome pre-
parations, the hitherto very cold weather having
also become a little milder, a start was at last
made on April 14th, 1908, for a fresh expedition
to the highlands. Beside myself and Herr Keidel,
the party now consisted of the two guides, Kostner
and Stockmayer, the preparator Herr Maurer, the
two Kossacks BesporodofP and Simin, with the
corresponding accompaniment of Sart attendants
and horse-keepers. Later we were joined by
Chemoff, another Kossack, who had been one of
Sven Hedin's assistants. All the military posts
along our route had previously received due in-
formation from the Chinese authorities in a way
111
Digitized by LjOOQIC
112 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN
that deserved my thanks. They also gave me
written instructions and a policeman (''Beg") for
a part of the way. Through the kindness of His
Excellency N. F. Petrovsky, Imperial Russian
Consul-G^eral at Kashgar, to whom I am greatly
indebted for much help, the Russian ''Aksakals"
in Uch-Turfim and Ak-su received notice of my
approaching arrival Though my residence in
Kashgar had not been too pleasant, I still parted
reluctantly from persons, whose kindly advances
and disinterested support had stood me in good
stead on many trying occasions.
As the raw weather and the masses of snow,
lying on the uplands, did not yet allow us to push
into the high valleys, I decided to journey at
first for several weeks as closely as possible along
the southern escarpments, in order to study their
geological structure, as on this particular section
of the Tian-Shan next to nothing was known.
The route once more necessarily lead through
Altjm-Artysh and Tangitar to Bash-Sugun. Still,
the repeated visit to this locality was not thrown
away, since it lead to the discovery of carboniferous
Permian deposits.
My intention was to make my way over the
Kara-bel passes into the Aiktyk valley, whose
southern bank is formed by the ** Kok-kya
range," as it is called by Severzoff, why I do
not know. Thence the descent could be made
into the narrow ravines of the Kok-shaar river,
cut between the aforesaid range and the section
of the southern border-range also named by
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KHIRGHIZ KARA-JIL 118
SeverzofF the " Bos-aidyr Chain." The project,
however, was thwarted by the stupidity or the
ill-will of the " Beg," appointed by the Chinese
authorities to accompany me. I should here point
out that the terms Kok-kya and Bos-aidyr,
applied to mountain ranges, are unknown to the
natives along the southern border.
From Bash-Sugun the way led east and north-
east in narrow gorges through light-coloured, coral-
bearing limestones, then along the southern
border of the great mountain range across the
surface of the plateau, where the outer range
rises only in isolated crags above enormous, heaped
up masses of mountain drift, like cliffs out of the
sea. At the Kirghiz settlement of Kara-jil these
crags of the front range reach a height of only
fifty to sixty feet, and consist of interstratified
light and dark limestones, the latter of which
yielded a rich upper carboniferous fauna. The
place must not be confused with the Chinese
military post of like name, which lies farther
north in the Aiktyk vaUey. Of this district,
which was subsequently traversed by the ex-
pedition, the maps give an altogether inadequate
representation, which will in many respects be
corrected and completed by our route surveys.
From Kara-jil we travelled in an east-north-
east direction along the foot of a limestone ridge,
1,600—2,000 ft. (500—600 m.) high, through the
loess steppe, where the outer range, buried in
the drift, may still be followed in island-like
fragments for a long distance. Then we turned
8
Digitized by LjOOQIC
114 SOUTHEKX MAKGIX OF TIAN-SHAN
a little south to the Kir^^nz settlement of Jsi-
teve (tube?), on the shore of the saline lake
Shor-kyL At this point the expedition touched
Sven Hedin's route of the year 1895, but again
immediately diverged in a north-easteriy direc-
tion, and made its way into a valley, which
intersects the mountain range at an acute an^e.
This valley is of typical form, narrowing in its
upper course to the shape of a ravine and
becoming a perfectly developed transverse valley,
sunk in hard strata of limestone, grauwacke and
phyllite-like schists. We found this typical erosicm-
vaUey (Apatalkan) and its secondary vallejrs water-
less, and only at the valley head came on a feeble
stream, issuing from the snow-fields lying there.
The origin of such a valley, and of other erosicm-
valleys, traversed by the expedition shortly before
and afterwards in the journey to Uch-Turfim,
cannot be explained satisfactorily by the periodical
streams which flow through them only for a small
part of the year, but much rather points to great
climatic change.
The route led between mountains, whose steep
sides, in consequence of the slope of the strata
towards the north, were turned towards the
valley, up to the Apatalkan pass, nearly 10,000 ft.
(8,000 m.) in altitude; then down through the
snow-clad northern Apatalkan valley (U3ruk-
Apatalkan), of trough-like profile, where, notwith-
standing the advanced time of the year (April
22nd), we re-entered in the region of winter and
encountered violent snowstorms. The ramparts
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KOK-SHAAL VALLEY 115
of the valley consist of a regular folded mass,
already much worn down, of phyllite-like schists
and grey-blue grauwacke, both of very var5dng
appearance. This horizon of great thickness can
be followed a distance of twenty-five or thirty
miles in the Kok-shaal valley. Kok-shaal is the
name, given in general to the upper course of the
Taushkan-daria by the population living on its
bank. At the mouth of the Apatalkan valley,
the Kok-shaal valley is already a mile or a mile
and a half wide, and looking back one sees, only
a little farther to the west, the river leaving the
ravine, whence it issues through a door-shaped
opening, and then rushing in a majestic curve
into the distance.
To my regret time did not suffice for in-
specting the ravine, from which this river issues,
especially as it had never before been visited
by any expedition. It is significant that in the
Kok-shaal valley, as in all the less recent Tian-
Shan valleys, we at once met with unusually
large masses of conglomerates, which constantly
accompany the course of the river, irregularly
overlying the old schists, and in their turn over-
laid by more recent conglomerates, etc.
At the locality of Abdul-kia, alias Alep-turga,
about 8,200 fL (2,500 m.) in altitude (these, like
most of the following names, are not to be found
on any of the existing maps) — ^the Kok-shaal
river should be crossed, but, owing to the strength
of the current, the passage proved impracticable.
We had to travel along the limestone range on
Digitized by LjOOQIC
116 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN
the right bank, against the bluff walls of which
the river beat for a long stretch, and hence
induced us to take our way through defiles of
the surprisingly eroded limestone ridges. Thus,
travelling for some time near the border of the
mountain mass, we again reached the main
valley, where the river, now divided into several
branches, could be crossed. Already at Ak-kia
the view up the river had opened out to the
fine chain of snow-clad, rocky mountains belong-
ing, at least in a purely orographical sense, to
the so-called Bos-aidjrr chain {vide p. 118), for
the separation of which from the continuous wall
of the Kok-shaal-Tau, however, I can find no
satisfactory boundary-line either firom a geo-
logical or an orographical point of view. The
route over the wide, slightly inclined steppe-
terraces of the northern bank was now open to
us. Passing the great Kirghiz settlement, Kara-
bulak, with one of Yakub Beg's dilapidated forts,
we crossed a plateau of consolidated pudding-stone
{Deckenschotter)y rising gently towards the north-
east, and approached the foot of the rugged
precipitous mountain rampart at the Aul of
Chagash-gumbes, about 8,000 ft (2,450 m.) in
altitude. The secondary range of the Kok-shaal-
Tau, which here attains a height of drca 11,500 ft,
though it must, from a geotectonic point of view,
be considered as separate from the higher ranges
behind it, should, according to the maps, belong
to Severzoff's "Bos-aidyr range." The native
Kirghiz call it Markesh-tagh« Th^ drift mounds
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE BOS-AIDYR CHAIN 117
at its base contain no crystalline material, this
firont wall being composed of limestones, calcareous
slates, and very dense, highly metamorphic, bright-
coloured clay-slates and sandstones, which dip now
to north-north-west, now in the reverse direction.
Crystalline fragments (granite and syenite) which
are brought down in the beds of several streams
that break through the front range, appear to be
derived from the higher ones behind ; but lower
down the valley I found in more recent drift,
which there covers the base of the hills to a great
depth, crystalline material (large granite blocks)
in places, where no passage leads back through
the lower range. They were doubtless carried
hither by ice from the inner recesses of the
mountain range. These are not the only traces
of former glacial action which we found in the
Kok-shaal valley ; on the right as well as on
the left bank such traces were proved to exist,
though not very abundantly. The section of
the Kok-shaal-Tau, to which the name of the
Bos-aidyr chain is given consists of several
nearly parallel chains, of which the hinder, more
northerly, is much higher and possesses more
variety of mountain shapes than the range in
front. Its summits, clad with nev^, are very
steep. Here there is displayed a characteristic
of the configuration of the Tian-Shan, which I
had already observed and afterwards often con-
firmed — ^that of its parallel structure. Semenofi*,
the most acute explorer who has ever visited any
part of the Tian-Shan, long ago directed attention
Digitized by LjOOQIC
118 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN
to this law, which finds such abundant expression
in the configuration of this giant range. The Kok-
shaal-Tau shows, on the whole, a gradual ascent
from west to east, as far as the neighbourhood of
the Bedel pass, where a sinking takes place.
At the Kirghiz settlement of Kysyl-gumbes,
about 7,500 ft. (2,800 m.) above the sea, which
owes its name to the red colour of the loess
surface, a result of the decomposition of the
bright red (" kysyl " = red) limestones, conglomer-
ates, and sandstones which form the steep, finely
peaked ramparts of the valley, and to the many
Kirghiz burial chambers ("gumbes") which dis-
tinguish the region.
An excursion to the so-called Bos-aidyr chain
was arranged, and, for a better insight into its
formation, one of its lofty peaks was to be climbed.
But, to my regret, this piuposed excursion came
to nothing, owing to a phenomenon, which,
regularly, during the long time the expedition
was engaged on the south side of the range,
made observations exceedingly difficult and partly
impossible — namely, continuous and unusually
dense fog. The fog was, in this early part of the
year, almost denser — at all events it was much
more continuous — ^than we find it in the Alps in
November (a surprising phenomenon in this
southern region, distinguished by the dryness of
its climate) ; for weeks at a stretch there was
no clear weather. The explanation lies in the
intense heating of the loess soil during spring-
time. This, at some hoiurs of the day, whirls
Digitized by LjOOQIC
DUST AND MIST 119
the fine dust aloft, and, even when the wind
is calm (to say nothing of the strong winds
which often prevail), drives it in commotion up
to the higher strata of the air, where it remains
floating. In spring, in consequence of the melting
of the snow, the mountain slopes give off much
moisture by evaporation, and these vapours are
condensed on the fine floating dust-particles to
mists which neither fall nor yield. In April and
May we had often a cloudless sky, but seldom
a clear atmosphere. Our photographic work had
to be discontinued often for many days — a serious
loss. Over much that was worth observing on
our route, lay an impenetrable veil.
In the limestones which are mainly concerned
in the formation of this front range, we found
beds containing corals, whose identification will
perhaps help to determine the age of these strata,
which, also on the right bank of the Kok-shaal,
form ranges of imposing height.
At the place called Ak-tala we crossed again
to the right bank. Here, and even earlier, the
mountain range along the bank, the Sogdan-Tau,
showed remarkable development in the impressive
perspective of a lofty rampart with a crest-line of
about fourteen miles (twenty versts) length, almost
without a gap, deeply covered with snow, and
on the average about 4,000 ft. (1,200 m.) above
the floor of the vaUey. Behind it a far higher
range (again a parallel structure), with a some-
what greater variety of form, and bearing small
glaciers, became visible.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
120 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN
The existence of glaciers is indicated also by the
name of a transverse valley, Uch-Musduk, which
means " Five Glaciers." To this Sven Hedin has
already directed attention. This great mountain
range, occupying a wide area, is still altogether
terra incognita. Our route along its border led
us into a longitudinal valley of considerable
breadth, where there are strata of laminated, green
phyllitic schists, interchanging with strata of grey
sandstone in a regular, rather sharply folded
formation, whose partially eroded arches may be
followed for a great distance. These strata, as
was afterwards proved, at different points, overlie
discordant limestones, which strike obliquely
across from the left bank.
Also, in this now waterless region there are
wonderftdly perfect erosion-valleys. Near the
Aul of Sum-tash, in the neighbourhood of which
are the still unknown ruins of an ancient town,
complicated foldings in the same rock-series are
disclosed, and the limestones, seen below, crop
up to the siuface at the Kok-belys pass, which
we crossed, where they contain a bank bearing
brachiopods, and lie discordant among argillaceous
schists. The structure of the mountain chain
onwards steadily engages the attention in con-
sequence of the magnificent disclosures of its
interesting stratification, but this subject cannot
be discussed in this summary report. Herr
Keidel will make good this and other deficiencies
in his detailed geological description of the
regions traversed.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
UCH 121
As we descended an affluent to the main valley
we reached the Kirghiz settlement of Uch (on
Hassenstein's map wrongly placed on the left
bank) about 6,400 ft. (1,950 m.) in altitude, and
subsequently we again struck Sven Hedin's route
of 1895. Among the magnificent, gorge-cleft
mountain ramparts at Uch, where, from a height
I climbed, the three parallel chains of the Sogdan-
Tau were visible, a collection could be made
of the fine rich fauna of the upper carboni-
ferous formation, here existing in two distinct
horizons, lying in slight discordance. This rock
sequence can be followed far to the east. Here
for the fibpst time we discovered foraminiferous
schists (bearing Schwagerinas)^ which from this
point steadily accompanied our route along the
southern slopes as far as the Khalyk-Tau. The
extraordinarily wide area, on which these fora-
minifera, which characterise the uppermost car-
boniferous formation, are distributed, is a new
fact in the stratification of Central Asia.
In the continuation of our journey eastwards
we constantly found magnificent disclosures of the
same compactly folded system, running north-east
and south-west, especially fine in the Aul of
Shinne. Immediately thereafter, toward the Kara-
turuk gorge (this on Hassenstein's map is marked
to the east instead of to the west of the pass), the
river dashes impetuously against a cape-like pro-
jecting spur of the mountain range, and makes
it necessary to cross the rocky pass of Shinne-
davan, in the neighbourhood of which, owing to
Digitized by LjOOQIC
122 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN^HAN
the oUkpie cuttiiig through the folds, highly
interestiiig geological disclosures can be seeiL
Again there appears the rock-series of the horizon
ci Udi, disccwdant under sdiists, and, fiulher <«,
<^ stratified conglomerates overlaid with blad^
limestones and reddish day-sdiists, a series which
accompanies our route orer the next pass and
cmwards through a TaUey into the plain, where,
in the neighbouriiood of the Aul of Sary-turuk,
it is replaced by hard, dull-coloured, crystalline
limestones, which now, in a series of banks of
immense thickness, form the mountain wall over
Ak-kia to the richly cultivated Aul of Sa&r-bai,
about 6,000 ft (1,850 m.) above the level of the
sea. The much higher, snow-clad mountain range,
which accompanies the river on the left, remained,
during this long journey through the Kok-shaal
valley, which is often as much as two and a half
miles (four versts) in breadth, in consequence of
the thick fog {vide p. 118 seq.)j almost continually
invisible. The river-bed is several times constricted
to a breadth of 600 to 900 ft. (200—300 m.) by
cape-like projections, where the ridges, set obliquely
to the axis of the main valley, have been much
eroded by the action of water and wind, but the
average breadth of the valley is not diminished.
At the Kirghiz settlements of Kara-bulung on
the right bank and Bulung-tiuuk on the left bank
the river makes a great bend, and bears henceforth
the name of Taushkan-daria, or is even called
simply Daria. There, from the wall on the right
shore, which at the bend swings for to the south-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
STRANGE EFFECTS OF CORROSION 128
west, low ridges of fossil-bearing limestones run
forward to the river. Beyond the Aul of Koshe-
bashe, where the loess-plain on the right bank
showed rich cultivation, the river presses suddenly
against this bank and reduces it to a mere strip.
Even this vanished at last, and then our route,
since it was found impracticable to cross to the low
left bank, led over a projecting cliff of marble-
like limestone to the pass of Denge-davan. In
the ascent I found the cliffs, up to approximate
heights of sixty-five feet (twenty metres) worn by
water — one sure sign of many I observed in the main
valley, either that the river has deepened its bed, or
that it formerly had a larger flow of water, or that
both of these suppositions are true. On the eastern
side of these cliffs the rock-walls are, owing to
fieolian corrosion, pierced high up with thousands
of little holes, a phenomenon which may be
observed at many places in the Kok-shaal valley
on the windward side of the cliffs, but nowhere else
so finely as here. In the neighbourhood of the Aul
of Konganishuk-YangyU, again, a low ridge juts
forward from the chain bounding the main valley
on the right to the river-bed, or, indeed, into it ;
this is through erosion, partly by water and partly
by wind, divided into separate small rocky islands,
two of which rise in the middle of the bed of
the river. This row of cliffs, which the Kirghiz
call Mai-tewe (tube?), consists of coarse, dark-
coloured limestone conglomerate, interstratified
with sandstones ; the limestone fragments contain
a rich fauna, belonging to the upper carboniferous
Digitized by LjOOQIC
124 SOUTHERN MARGIN OF TIAN-SHAN
formation, of which we collected specimens. To
judge from the flat depression of the strata and
from the arrangement of the folds, this horizon
might be followed fax to the east and south-east ;
it was, in feet, again met with ferther to the east.
At Bash-chakma, about 5,600 ft (1,700 m.) in
altitude and at Tagh-tumshuk, the commanding
mountain range on the right bank is developed on
a great scale (here also three parallel chains could
be observed), and by its height and arrangement
it forms a remarkable shelter for the region, which
now at length (at the end of April) showed the
first green of spring and the charming hues of
blossoming peach- and apricot-trees. There, on
a sharply projecting mountain spur, could be
observed complicated disturbances, several flexures,
feults, and ruptures, which could be followed away
to the east and north-east in a complex stratum
of slabby limestones, quite void of fossils, loose
sandstones, and red-brown quartzites. Farther on,
at the Aul of Kum-bulung, however, only these
sandstones appear ; they form great arches in
thick layers, and the products of their decom-
position have transformed the region far and
wide into a desolate sand-desert, from which a
bit of soil for cultivation can only with difficulty
be wrung. The protruding dark-coloured lime-
stone ridge of Ot-bashi-tagh sets the first limit
to the driving of the sand, at a bend of the
river. Under its shelter the diligence and skill
of the population (frt)m here onwards exclusively
Sartian) have turned the region into an incom-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
m^ssm
A PICTURESQUE CITADEL 125
parably luxuriant garden-land, which extends to
the town of Uch-Turfan, about 5,000 ft. (1,500 m.)
in altitude, and beyond it. These dark-coloured
limestones accompany the route in crowded folds,
frequently with remarkable bendings of the strata ;
in them also there is an upper carboniferous fauna,
of which Herr Keidel collected fine specimens.
A projecting spur, formed of these limestones, bears
on its summit the picturesque citadel, command-
ing not only the town and its handsome walls,
built on the Vauban system, but also the garden-
like region far and wide. This cliff consists partly
of great banks composed exclusively of ProdiLCtus
and Spirifer, from f to 4jf in. (2 — 12 cm.) in
diameter.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER X
TO THE KHALYK-TAU AND BACK TO UCH-TUKFAN
In accordance with information obtained, I had
to put off my purpose of penetrating from Uch-
Turfan at this time into the transverse valleys of
the left momitain range, since in those valleys
there was at the time snow, of course, but no fodder
for the horses, and the helpful Kirghiz had not
yet come up. I therefore resolved to go fEurther
east into the Khalyk-Tau, which had never before
been visited by any explorer, and whose transverse
valleys, opening directly to the south, might be
expected to offer more fevourable conditions. Our
way would lie across Ak-jar, Shah-shambe, and
Tjaggerak to the town of Ak-su. Along this
route we could at length (in the first week of
May) begin gathering the first spring flora of the
steppe.
At Ak-su we had to stay for several days to
complete our number of attendants and of horses
as well as to meet the Chinese authorities. We
left the interesting town on May 7th by the old
caravan road to Bai, and crossed, between Kara-
Yulgun and Tugarakdan (according to the incorrect
representation of the forty-verst map, it would
lie between Jurga and Yakka-aryk), the tertiary
126
Digitized by LjOOQIC
BAI 127
mountain range of the Chul-Tau which trends
west-north-west, the route lying in an oblique
cutting through its fine system of arched folds.
Bright-coloured banks of sandstone and clay marls,
bearing gypsum, overlaid by slabs of conglomerate,
compose the mountain range, whose structure is far
less complicated and whose appearance therefore
has less variety of form than the Topa-davan
range in the north-west {vide p. 99 seq). The crest
elevation of the central portion is of course higher
than there, but in its eastern chains between Jurga
and Yakka-aryk and farther east it is much
weathered and already reduced to insignificant
dune-shaped swellings; by its decomposition it
has furnished the material for a considerable rise
in the level of the plain eastwards. This plain
reaches its highest point at Chakh-chi, about
4,760 ft. (1,450 m.) in altitude, and from this spot
it falls away towards the Musart-daria.
The visit to the town of Bai was of doubtfril
value. The information there obtained with
great difficulty from the Chinese authorities con-
cerning routes and conditions in the Khalyk-Tau
turned out to be incorrect. It appears that
nobody there is well acquainted with that almost
inaccessible mountain region. The forty-verst
map here leaves us completely in the lurch;
between Bai and the moimtain range it presents
nothing but a blank, and what of Khalyk-Tau
is elsewhere shown proved wrong. As the
topographical sketches, taken during the journey
are not yet worked out, our course, in the absence
Digitized by LjOOQIC
128 TO THE KHALYKTAU
of a topographical basis, could only be made
clear by very detailed explanation ; I must there-
fore reserve a minute description of this portion
of our journey and, in this provisional report,
only state the most essential points. But it must
be mentioned that the direction and course of the
rivers, given in the forty-verst map do not agree
with facts : The Kapsalyan river, the most impor-
tant of the rivers of this range, on issuing fix)m its
narrow, ravine-like valley, takes a direction towards
the south-west and west along the southern slope
of the range, and the river which issues from the
valley, wrongly named Kasnak-su on the forty-
verst map, but in fact bearing the name of Terek,
does not flow into the Musart-daria but into
the Kapsalyan, which for its part only reaches
that stream in the neighbourhood of Chakh-chi.
FinaUy, Bai is at a much greater distance from
the foot of the mountain range, than it appears
to be on the forty-verst map.
Our route passed from Bai in a north-westerly
direction over Terte and Uskim through the
desert to the small kishlak of Masar-Yakub,
which is still at a considerable distance from the
edge of the mountain range. Here it turned out
that our next destination, the Tilbichek side-
valley, cannot be reached directly, since its lower
course forms a ravine, inaccessible for beasts of
burden. We had to bear westwards and traverse
the desert-valley of Kali-agach, which is cut into
recent crystalline conglomerate. We crossed a
small pass and, going along a hollow, running
Digitized by LjOOQIC
MARL TERRACES 129
south-west, reached an elevated plain, and then
went to the village of Jam-kuluk, about 5,500 ft.
(1,600 m.) in altitude, situated on the plain at
the foot of the first chain of older conglomerates,
near the mouth of the Kapsalyan river. The route
upwards in this valley had an easterly and north-
easterly direction; the valley is sunk between
^ragg^» high> f ^ conglomerate ramparts (of which
more hereafter), and is divided into three small
basins (old lake-bottoms), connected with one
another by door-like openings, cut in the enclosing
rock- walls. Thus we reached the region of tertiary,
bright-coloured clay marls, which are steeply folded
together with the hard, violet-red conglomerates,
but, already very much destroyed, are for the
most part now only found at the foot of the steep
conglomerate walls, 650 to 1,000 ft. (200—800 m.)
high. Over these marl terraces, at one side of
which the river flows in a deep gorge, we travelled
up the valley to the Taranchi settlement, called
Musulyk, about 6,000 ft. (1,820 m.) in altitude,
lying on a raised sill, deeply pierced by the river.
Thence we went to the junction of the Terek with
the Kapsalyan, and approached over a boulder-
plain the spot, where the latter issues from between
the steep waUs of the lofty limestone range. We
then left the basin of the river, and crossed the
broad water-shed between it and the Tilbichek
river-basin through a defile about seven miles
(ten versts) long, which, following the strike of
much decomposed, variegated banks of marl,
displays wonderfully varied and bright-coloured
9
Digitized by LjOOQIC
180 TO THE KHALYK-TAU
strata, especially where the red conglomerate
walls, ¥nth their boldly peaked crest-line, overtop
these steep, jagged marls. Over a steep slope we
descended into the wide plain of the Tilbichek
valley, whose door-like entrance into the gorge of
its lower course was at once visible behind us to
the rig^t. In the middle portion of the Tilbichek
valley, the soft marls are almost cleared away,
and the oHiglomerates alone form, by their strike,
the ramparts of the valley. Since they dip
steeply towards the south-east, the orographic right
wall is sloped steeply enough, but the left wall
presents towards the valley perfectly perpendicular
precipices, forming a wall twenty versts long,
sheer by the plumb-line, red, crowned with odd
peaks and pinnacles, a sight such as is seldom
seen elsewhere. A small Taranchi settlement in
the valley is called Sukhun, about 6,400 ft
(1,950 m.) above the sea. Thence we penetrated
deeper into the valley, first going north-eastwards,
then north, where the stUl-preserved parallel
folds of the steep, variegated marls, rising in
serrated crests behind one another, together with
the conglomerate walls, group themselves into
the most peculiar shapes. In this geological
horizon lie three basin-shaped widenings, which are
connected with one another only by door-shaped
openings, thirty to forty feet (ten to twelve
metres) wide. Through the last opening access is
gained to a region of light grey, fine, sandy con-
glomerates, which pass into actual sandstone and
enclose clay-coal schists {Lettenkohlenschiefer)
Digitized by LjOOQIC
IRON-SMELTING 181
with impressions of plants, and higher up there
are dark-hrown, poor clay-ironstones and grey,
dense limestones. Far behind in the valley a
Taranchi, living in a cave, is occupied in smelting
iron. The main valley here branches and leads
towards the north-west, over lofty terraces, clothed
with Alpine meadows, to a pass ; the main branch,
however, leads northwards as a narrow gorge,
with almost perpendicular walls of dense lime-
stone, between which flows a raging torrent. To
Herr Keidel's attempts to penetrate deeper into
the ravine, and so from the limestone belt to
reach the crystalline, insuperable obstacles at once
presented themselves.
The second excursion into the mountain range
was farther west, through a narrow, door-like and
difficult breach in the red conglomerate walls to
the Kepek-chai valley, where the region of the
bright, grey, sandy conglomerate, sandstone, clay-
coal schists, and clay-ironstones, already mentioned,
is reached much sooner than in the Tilbichek
valley, since this system of strata runs about
north-east and south-west. In the background
of the valley the most complicated forms of
stratification, inclined folds, contortions, over-
slidings {VherscJdebungen)^ etc., accompanied
by chaotic destruction of the rock-series, can
be observed at magnificent exposures. These
disturbances, after more minute examination of
the observed conditions, may probably prove
to be associated with the already-mentioned
disturbances in the southern Musart valley {vide
Digitized by LjOOQIC
182 TO THE KHALYK-TAU
p. 98 seq.) since the crystaUine rocks strike across
from that region and go somewhat deeper into the
mountain range in contact with the sedimentary
rocks. The red conglomerates and tertiary marls,
being much more recent, were not involved in
this movement.
We ascended the Busai-tash pass, about 9,200 ft.
(2,000 m.) in altitude, leading into the Tilbichek
valley, and thence over extensive Alpine plateaus,
about 800—1,000 ft (250 — 800 m.) higher, which
spread out between the two valleys, named
and the Kapsalyan valley. These plateaux pro-
vide a fine view of the snowy chain of the Central
Khalyk-Tau. The highest peaks lie to the north
and west ; towards the south and east there is
a gradual falling away. Turning back towards
Musulyk, Herr Keidel attempted to penetrate into
the Kapsalyan valley, but was baffled, the narrow
gorge being completely filled with water. Only
in winter, if the river is low or is frozen, the
Taranchi penetrate into the valley and carry away
fir-wood. Herr Keidel, in order to obtain an
insight into the structure of the range, now
resolved on the ascent of a high peak, about
12,000 ft. (8,600 m.) in altitude, standing between
the Terek and the Kapsalyan valleys, while I
penetrated into the Terek valley, which likewise
has the character of a much-winding ravine, but,
nevertheless, proved passable. From a bivouac
about 8,000 ft. (2,450 m.) in altitude, midway up
the gorge, I was fortunate enough to reach its
head, about 9,700 ft. (2,950 m.), where it divided
Digitized by LjOOQIC
LIMESTONES AND SCHISTS 188
into two clefts, running up to the main water-parting
ridge. I could thus traverse the whole series of
the sedimentary rocks lying on the outer border,
the crystalline belt, forming the middle course of
the valley, and the limestones and old argillaceous
schists forming the valley-head. Thus I was able
to collect a complete sequence of the rocks. Just
as in all other transverse valleys of the Central
Tian-Shan, so also in the Khalyk-Tau, it is not
the crystalline rocks, but the limestones and argil-
laceous schists, which form the highest and most
central portion of the range. Here these lime-
stones and schists on the whole strike east and
west, with slight deflections towards the south and
north. These conditions, however, according to
observations already made on the Musart pass,
could not be expected otherwise. In the crystalline
rock of the Terek valley, remarkable disturbances,
inclined folds, violent compressions and overslidings,
etc., were noted. Even far up the valley, but
especially at the entrance into the Terek gorge, at
the little settlement of Bom-khotan, there exist
Schwagerina-heaimg limestones, which interchange
with plant-bearing schists ; a little farther down
the valley, after red sandstone there follows a belt
of porphyry between the former and the frequently
mentioned grey sandstones and conglomerates.
It surprised me to find in this southern valley,
opening to the south, the features of a narrow
transverse valley of the northern limestone Alps :
terraces with Alpine meadows, and on steep,
rocky slopes forests of pine, which extend into the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
184 TO THE KHALYK-TAU
recesess of the ravine and, on the valley-terraces
( Thalsttifen)f form dense permanent forests ; a main
stream, well supplied with water by many brooks,
flowing from genuine Alpine side-valleys ; splendid
snow-clad, rocky peaks. At the head of thef valley,
where, as before mentioned, it divides into two
narrow clefts, no glaciers can be formed, but there
are small glaciers at the heads of the side- valleys,
which widen out into the form of cirques. At
the mouths of some of these valleys, though much
has been washed away by floods of the stream,
there are still considerable quantities of moraine
debris, piled as evidence of former extensive glacia-
tion. The whole length of the Terek valley
amoimts to about thirty-five miles (fifty versts) ;
at a short distance fit>m its head it divides into
two branches: the one, running north-westwards,
is called Ya-konash; the other, running mainly
northwards, is called Jan-kasnak. From this latter
name the appellation of Kasnak-su, which is given
in the forty-verst map to the whole valley, is
perhaps derived. I repeat that the inhabitants
of the region denote the whole valley simply by
the name Terek. Our return-route from the
Khalyk-Tau lay close to the skirt of the moimtain
range : first upwards, in the lower course of the
Terek valley ; then across the lofty terrace of Yar-
jilga, which apparently closes the valley, down to
the wide plain of Karabag, which extends be-
tween the longitudinal course of the Musart-daria
and the foot of the range. The transverse valleys
at this part of the Khalyk-Tau are not inserted,
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by VjOOQIC
CROSSING THE KISHLAKS 185
much less named, in any map. In the order from
east to west their names are : Yagus-tal, Kysyl-tal,
Tutuk-tery, Cholok-su, Alagyr, Tjrukur-myt. I
found all of them, notwithstanding their southerly
exposure, very snowy, and in some there were
considerable glaciers. They are terminated by a
mountain ridge, running north-west and south-east,
which crosses obliquely from the Musart valley,
and for this reason the most easterly are short,
while, in general, their length increases the farther
they lie to the west. The most important of
them is the Tutuk-tery valley, from which a great
mountain-river flows. Most of these valleys
contain pine forests, in which the inhabitants of the
widely scattered kishlaks of the high plain bum
charcoal.
Our route lay across the kishlaks: Kish-talga,
Karabag, Kok-kya, Little Karabag, Kyssalik, and
Chapta-khanne — continually along the edge of
the mountain range, which falls away towards the
high plain in walls about 4,000 ft. (1,200 m.) high.
Along the foot, however, there is a belt of tertiary
deposits, more or less destroyed and carried away.
After crossing the Musart-daria, which here, at
Chapta-khanne, presses quite up to the mountain
wall, the road leads without intermission over old
moraine-soil, over-grown with verdure, across a
number of moraine-ridges, rimning north and
south, cut by little cross- valleys ; on these ridges
lie massive erratic blocks {vide p. 97). From this
enormous accumulation of moraine debris the
route descended steeply to the first Chinese picket.
Digitized by VjOOQIC
186 TO THE KHALYK-TAU
Koneshar, at the entrance of the southern Musart
valley, where we made our appearance on May
28rd. On the assurance that, in accordance with
the orders of the Chinese authorities at Ak-su,
which had been forwarded to the Sartian " Begs,"
I should find fodder for the horses and provisions
for the company ready at all stations, I resolved
to pay another visit to the southern Musart valley.
My principal aim was to penetrate from the last
picket, Tamga-tash, to the unexplored Earakol
valley, which extends thence to the north-east,
and become acquainted with the very important
glacier of this valley, probably one of the largest
in the Tian-Shan, and also to explore its sur-
roundings, which consist of completely ice-covered
moimtain chains of gigantic height, whose con-
nection with the great main ranges still remains
obscure. The extensive glacier background of the
Turpal-che valley was also to be investigated. To
my deep regret these plans could not be carried
out, since the " Begs," notwithstanding the orders
sent them, left me in the lurch.
I first made, from Tamga-tash, a tour of in-
spection to the great Earakol glacier, whereby it
was established that this glacier, like the Inylchek
glacier, is overspread with a great coating of
moraine d^ris, the passage of which, to a length of
only for two and a half miles (four versts), took
much time and proved very troublesome. So jGeut as
could be seen from an elevated crest on the left bank
of the valley, this d^ris mound extends still farther
over a stretch of about seven miles (ten versts) up
Digitized by LjOOQIC
UCH-TURFAN 187
the glacier before free ice can be reached. This
has certainly three times the length of the moraine-
covered part At the end of the glacier tongue
there is a small moraine-lake. The traversing
of the glacier and the investigation of its environs
would have required at least a week. When I
had returned from this trip to the picket, it turned
out that only an insignificant quantity of fodder
had been brought, and there was no more in
prospect. I had therefore to hasten my retreat
from the inhospitable valley, and, to my regret, to
give up the investigation of this region, the most
unexplored of the Central Tian-Shan. Though
this trip had cost me a week's time, it had not
been taken in vain, inasmuch as the geological,
glacial-geological, and orographical conditions of
the Musart valley, already briefly described, had
this time been more ftiUy investigated, than was
possible in the flying visit of the year before.
Unusually violent winds, sand-storms, and mist
to some extent interfered with the work.
By the route, already indicated, we returned to
Ak-su, where now the Kossack ChemoflF, one of
Sven Hedin's attendants, joined the expedition,
and at last, after mcredible difficulties, the long-
expected supplies and outfit, absolutely indispens-
able for the continuance of our work on the high
"Tnountain range, were completed.
Uch-Tiufan is more frivourably situated as a
point of departure for the investigation of the
southern transverse valleys, since it is nearer the
moimtain range, and we therefore returned to that
Digitized by LjOOQIC
188 TO THE KHALYKTAU
place. On the way a rich collection was made of
the steppe and desert flora, now in the freshest fiiU
bloom. Being properly supported by the Chinese
" Ambal '' at Uch-Tmfan, a well-informed and agree-
able man, as well as by the Sartian " Aksakal " of
the Russian Consulate in Eashgar, I could satis-
factorily carry out my investigations m the
hitherto quite unexplored side-valleys of the south
Central Tian-Shan.
The atmosphere had in the meantime become
transparent, and from Uch-Turfan we had daily a
clear view of the southern mountain range. The
great abundance of snow, and especially the rich
glaciation of these southern chains, far exceeded
my conceptions. The background of the Kaiche
vaJley, with the wonderfully bold mountain peak
marked by Kaulbars with the name of Petroff
peak (not Peter peak), the magnificent Bos-tagh
group, and, more than all, the mighty, completely
glaciated Sabavchy chain, formed a series of
surprises, considering the exposure of the slopes
facing to the south, or partly to the west.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XI
THE SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS — ^THE AL-
LEGED AND THE ACTUAL BREACH, FORCED
BY THE NORTHERN WATERS.
We left Uch-Turfanon June 11th, crossed without
difficulty the Taushkan-daria, which, however, had
become much swollen, and, gradually ascending
the deeply intersected debris-coating of the desert,
approached the foot of the mountain range.
What we had already learned in our journey
along the southern base of the Tian-Shan was
here for the first time shown in the most con-
vincing manner : of the so-called wall-like descent
of the Tian-Shan towards the Tarim basin, of
which so much has been written and which one
would expect from the representations of maps,
there was, except at a few places, nothing to
be seen. The veil of haze surrounding the
mountain range and the sharp light of the steppe
produced this Mse impression on travellers, who
passed along at a greater distance from the
mountains. Nearly everywhere the Tian-Shan
slopes away gradually towards the high plain
at its southern base, in places (according to
peculiarities of structure of its different parts
and the corresponding course of erosion), sub-
139
Digitized by LjOOQIC
140 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
siding gradually in ranges of transverse spurs,
whose cape-like ends project far into the desert,
or in other places in the step-like tailing off of
longitudinal ranges. Besides, if it is considered
how much of the outermost skirting range lies
buried in the enormous rubbish-heaps of the
high plain, frequently mentioned in this report,
the hitherto prevailing conception of the wall-
like descent of the range must be given up.
In some places limestones appear as projections
from the range; at others, conglomerates and
tertiary clay marls form the outermost folds.
Our first stopping place was the oasis of
Eukurtuk, on the little stream called Ui-Bulak,
distant about sixteen miles (twenty-five versts)
from the outlet of the Eaiche valley, and about
5,800 ft. (1,620 m.) in altitude. With the help
of the Kirghiz of that place we penetrated into
the Janart valley, to determine what connection
it has with the allied Janart-breach through
the moimtain range, and how jBnr the representa-
tions, hitherto given on maps would be confirmed.
On the high plain, on approaching the Janart
river, I foimd indeed a river-bed about 180 ft;.
(40 m.) deep, cut into the boulder deposits,
and wide enough even for great floods, but not
such as would indicate a powerful river. The
quantity of water, flowing through it, was clearly
only moderate. These circumstances alone sufficed
to make me doubt the existence of the so-called
Janart-breach. At the entrance into the mountain
valley, 7,400 ft. (2,250 m.) in altitude, . where
Digitized by LjOOQIC
FLOODMARKS 141
the inevitable Schwagerina-heanag limestones —
much compressed, however — again appeared, I was
surprised to find a shallow, trough-shaped river
section and a rather strong mountain stream, but
no mighty river, such as must be formed by the
united waters from the largest glaciers on the
north side : the Sary-jass, Inylchek, Kayndy, etc.
The flood-marks on the rock walls showed a height
of ten to thirteen feet (three to foiu: metres) over
the then level of the river. With the determina-
tion of this poiQt my conviction was sealed, that
not a drop of water flows through the Janart
valley from the northern glaciers. However, I
wished to exhaust the evidence of this, and re-
solved to traverse to its head the valley, which
has a length of about thirty miles (forty-five versts).
We only rendered this undertaking feasible by
moving our camp forward three times.
In the first third of the valley, light-coloured,
dense limestones form the boundaries, and the
character of the southern steppe is displayed in
the midst of a magnificent rocky circumvallation.
In the second third, where the valley assumes a
north- Alpine character, with good meadow-spaces
and fine pine-woods, it is bounded by crystalline
schists and granite rocks, followed by a second
series, consisting of light-coloured limestones —
interstratified with dark limestone schists, and a
ponderous series of dark schists and light marbles
succeeds this. A thin belt of green grauwacke-
schists and phyUites appears to be the outcrop
of the similar rock-series, observed in the upper
Digitized by LjOOQIC
142 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
Kok-shaal valley, but there in a much thicker
horizon {xnde p. 115 seg.). Then again follow lime-
stone schists and marbles, reaching almost to the
head of the valley. The last third shows a gorge-
like form, but quite at the end is a fan-shaped
widening, where the glaciers spread out In the
hij^est region we found in the circumvallation
of the pass a belt of granite which, at least in
its southern slope, has but little breadth. The
whole of the complex stratification is very
steeply set ; the mean direction is E. 10° N. In
interstratified limestones and limestone schists
Herr Keidel found a carboniferous fauna, which
seems to belong to two distinct horizons. The
glacier in the main valley has no great extent ;
in the side-valleys, especially in those on the
west, the glaciers are somewhat more extended,
but are rapidly retreating. So much the more
surprising are the great accumulations of moraine
d^ris, which even at the outlet of the valley,
rise high up against the rocky walls. In the
middle of the valley, where the steep form of the
rock-walls did not admit of their preservation,
the river has cut its bed deep, and we saw the
remains of ancient ground-moraine under the
alluvium. Behind, the valley is for a long stretch
choked up with great moraine-masses, so that, to
reach its head, one has continually to cross great
walls of blocks and boulders; among these only
a very little crystalline material is to be observed.
At the ice-clad pass, 14,500 ft (4,400 m.) in
altitude, we stood in the midst of a magnificent
Digitized by LjOOQIC
PEAK (about 20,500 FT.) EAST OF JANART PASS.
[To face p. 143.
Digitized by CjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
ICECLAD RAMPARTS 148
environment of exceedingly rugged, ice-elad, rocky
peaks, whose summits probably considerably exceed
16,000 ft (5,000 m.) in altitude. On the north
side our gaze fell on a wide, rock-bounded
basin of nev^, which drains through a narrow
winding gorge, no doubt, to the Ishtyk-su. An
ice-clad chain with no variety of form hinders
a more extended view on the north-west ; judging
from our position, it can only be Ishigart-Tau.
Lofty peaks near at hand obstructed the view
of the Central Tian-Shan. To the west it might
perhaps have been possible, through an opening
m the ice-clad ramparts, to get a sight of the
glacier of the Kaiche valley, which would have
been of interest to me for the sake of settling
the position of the commanding Petroff peak,
which I had already seen from various points
{vide p. 188) ; but time for this purpose failed.
It was now established that the Janart valley
does not cut through the range, and that by its
channel no water can flow from the north to the
south side. Still, the problem was only half
solved ; the question as to what route these waters
really take in their southern course was still open.
The large secondary valley, the Munkys valley,
which runs parallel with the Janart valley in its
course through the moimtain range, and does not
unite with it till it reaches the plain, might possibly
be the channel by which the waters flow from
the north side, and to convince myself whether
this was so, I visited this valley. There I found
a very wide and very deep river-bed, but with
Digitized by LjOOQIC
144 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
little water; moreover, after having penetrated five
miles (eight versts) into the valley, I could ahready
determine with certainty that at the valley-head
there could be no breach through. The Kirghiz
were well acquainted with the &ct, that the waters
flow firom the north side to the south side, and
they consistently indicated the Kum-aryk as the
channel by which they are conveyed to the
Taushkan-daria. To convince myself of this was
my next task. The most advisable route to the
Kum-aryk would be that near the foot of the
moimtain range; for by that route it could be
observed whether any other important river
flowed from the range.
In all existing maps the transverse valleys, which
cut the southern slope of the range between Bedel
and Kiun-aryk, are inserted very incompletely —
most fiilly as yet in the map given in KrasnofiTs
Report (Sapiskiy I. R. G. G. tom. xix. 1888), but
even in this a number are wanting. I may therefore
set down their names here, in the order from
west to east: Bedel, Kok-rum, Tanke-sai, Myn-
dagyl-bulak, Kukurtuk, Aire, Kaiche, Taltan-su,
Janart, Munkys, Sindan, Kosh-karata, Ui-bulak,
Ulu-jailak, Ulak-teke, Kum-aryk. Of all these
the Bedel, the Kok-rum, and the Janart carry
the most water. The water of most of the others
soaks into the rubbish which forms their bed,
and only comes to the surface again at various
places far to the south. From the Janart east-
wards the Sindan, which moreover enters the
Janart on the plain, is the only river, which has
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
DESERT AND OASES 145
continuously a considerable flow. Its bed is cut
into unusually large banks of debris-deposits. The
other river-beds carry only at times, but then in
considerable quantities, the water from the melting
snow to the Taushkan-daria. The route east-
wards took the expedition through a wide extent
of the tertiary moimtain range, which, north of
Uch-Turfan, strikes south-west and north-east.
It consists of conglomerates, lying in a wide, flat
anticlinal arrangement. The abundance of water
there is astonishing ; it cannot have been produced
in this hot, snowless region, but evidently flows
underground from the high mountain range, and
only comes to the surface here. Some of the
springs are salt. In the middle of the boulder-
strewn desert lies, at the foot of this chain, the
important oasis of Kuchi, a Taranchi settlement
about 5,800 ft (1,600 m.) in altitude. It proved
exceedingly difiicult to get trustworthy informa-
tion there, concerning the route to the Kum-aryk.
Mistrust and fear inspire these people. Only this
much could be ascertained, that the continuation
of our route directly eastwards was impracticable,
since the Kum-aryk in that direction forms a
single, impassable stream. It was necessary to
go south-eastwards to the oasis of Oi-tattir, where
the river is divided and can be crossed in the
morning hours. We travelled through a deso-
late desert, only adorned with the splendid
Sabavchy chain, which, towering in the north-east,
stretches, a dazzling white wall, far to the east.
This route crosses a wide stretch of country,
10
Digitized by LjOOQIC
146 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
sprinkled with ruined, abandoned farm-buildings.
Not long ago, water could be conducted to this
region from the Kum-aryk, and the country was
flourishing. It seems that, meanwhile, the river
has deepened its bed; the canals can no longer
receive water, and the region has reverted to a
desert Oi-tattir, about 4,900 ft. (1,480 m.) in
altitude, is a very fertile oasis, which takes fipom
the Kum-aryk more water than it uses for its
crops, and the soil has become marshy. Two
miles (three versts) eastwards from this oasis we
crossed the stream. It spreads out its water to
a distance of nearly three miles (four versts) in
fourteen considerable and several small arms, with
an aggregate breadth of 560 ft. (170 m.) and a
maximum depth of 4 ft. (120 cm.) at the hour
when the water is lowest. In the afternoon,
towards evening, the quantity of water is more
than double that of the morning flow, and the
river is then impassable.
Already Sven Hedin, who in 1895 crossed the
river at Ak-su, where it is called the Ak-su-daria,
had showed that its water-supply on June 8th was
806 cm. per second (at what time of day?), or
almost as large again, as that of the Taushkan-
daria. The name Kum-aryk is not in the forty-
verst map, but is that commonly and exclusively
used by the inhabitants of its banks. It is, more-
over, very suitable, its meaning being the canal
(or channel) of the desert. On issuing from the
gorge, in which it traverses the mountain range,
on to the high plain, it flows in a cleft, about
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KUMARYK 147
500 — 650 ft. '(150 — 200 m,) deep, cut perpen-
dicularly in the drift-bed, so that the region
along its banks remains waterless, a perfect desert
which, interrupted only by a few oases, stretches
to Ak-su. Between the arms where we crossed it,
are stretches of desert with moving sand and sand-
dunes. In the tract over which we travelled after
crossing to the east bank, a continuous, narrow
belt of fertile oases extended for several versts
along the sides of a great canal and at the foot of a
high embankment-like stage, with which the high
plateau, which rises steeply to the mountain
range, falls away to the level of the river. This
row of farms, ten to twelve miles (fifteen to
eighteen versts) long, hidden under fruit-trees,
is divided into four Auls : Chandar, Tokai, Togak,
and Shaikhle ; in addition to the waters from the
canal they receive also some water from two
streams, issuing from the mountains farther east,
the Chorlok and the Tamlok. The last-named
oasis, Shaikhle, formed our base for the excursions
following.
As soon as I saw the Kum-aryk, a river
with, especially in the afternoon, an imposing
volume of water, it became clear to me that
such a flow could owe but little to the snows of
the south side, and that this must be the river
which is fed by the waters from the great glaciers
of the north side.
We travelled from Shaikhle under the slope of
•the high terrace first westwards to the bank of the
river, there flowing in a single channel about 400 ft.
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148 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
(120 m.) wide, but soon turned from the river
northwards through a gorge, cut deep m the thick
accumulated rubbish, and, gradually ascending,
reached the barren boulder-floor of the plateau.
There on the lofty bank, always 650 ft. or so above
the river, now flowing from the north, we pushed
on up the valley. After some time the plateau
became divided in a complicated manner by deep
ravines, cut perpendicularly, mostly over 800 ft.
(100 m.) deep. We descended to the river-bed
and held on our way at the side of the water
till the stream, beating hard against the wall
of the gorge, forced us back to the plateau.
With continual ups and downs in crossing the
ravines we toiled on our way, till at length, after
we had followed the course of the valley for about
seventeen miles (twenty-five versts) our further
advance was stopped opposite the place, where the
Kum-aryk breaks forth from its narrow gorge.
What had been told me by the inhabitants of
Shaikhle and heard by me with incredulity was
thus confirmed; it is not possible to penetrate
into the gorge. Between perpendicular walls the
stream issues from its mountain fastness, and in
Uiis gorge, as far as one can see, leaves not a fix)t-
breadth of ground free from water, at least during
the flood period, which lasts from the end of April
to the beginning of October. In winter, as the
inhabitants of Shaikhle say, one might perhaps
penetrate into the gorge, but no one attempts it,
since nothing is to be found there, except rocks
and water, Only an expedition, expressly equipped
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A GREAT GORGE 149
and oiganised for the purpose, and provided with
fiiel and supplies for men and horses for a sufficient
length of time, could, in the late autumn or in
winter, succeed in traversing the tortuous gorge
and in accurately laying down its course and the
courses of its contributory streams as far as the
mouth of the Uch-kul in the Sary-jass. The con-
figuration of the whole of this hydrographic system,
as given in the forty-verst map, is very fragmentary
and defective. The greatest defect is, that between
Sary-jass and Inylchek, indeed, every connection
of the river system is wanting. The perpendicu-
larly cut walls of the Kum-aryk banks, after the
stream has issued forth, are in some places per-
ceived to be accumulations of huge rounded blocks
piled without cement one above another to the
height of nearly 800 ft. (100 m.). To produce such
results the volume of water, flowing through the
gorge must have been formerly much greater, as
was the case in the post-glacial period, and this
has continued during the emptying of the lakes,
concealed behind the gorge, as these were one by
one cut open by erosion working backwards.
The flow from the Sabavchy glacier, coming
from the east, joins the Kum-aryk as a great
turbulent mountain torrent, immediately after the
latter river issues from its breach. In the back-
ground of the Kum-aryk gorge on its north
side, the commanding snowy peaks of the Bos-
tagh chain are seen, and behind them a still higher
but rockier chain. I conjectiu^ that the Koi-kaf
valley cuts in between the two chains. As I was
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150 SOUTHERN TRANSVERSE VALLEYS
able later to observe from other standpoints a
broad side-valley branches off from the gorge of
the Kimi-aryk, shortly beyond its mouth, to the
north-west, whose head in the much-levelled
main chain west of the Bos-tagh group, is a
wide glacier-trough among low, tent-shaped,
snow-clad summits. That this side-valley (the
Kirghiz call it Kara-gat) is without difficulty
accessible from the high plain by crossing this ridge
in front of it, and consequently that the depression
in the main crest can be reached, is to me not
doubtful Probably the key to unriddle the whole
mystery of the breach through the range, would
be found to lie here. Though I now stood before
the curtain, which veiled the yet unsolved part
of the problem of the Kum-aryk breach, I had,
owing to the great amount of work awaiting
me on the northern side, no more time at my
command for its solution. Of the longitudinal
valley, where, on the east of the Bos-tagh group,
according to the forty- verst map, the Ak-su or
Kum-aryk must have its origin, I shall say some-
thing later. After the photographic survey of
the interesting locality was completed, we retraced
oiu* steps to Shaikhle.
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CHAPTER XII
THE SABAVCHY GLACIER
Although it was now high time to cross over
to the northern side of the mountains in order to
bring the remaining investigations to a conclusion,
[ was wiwilling to leave this region without a
glance into the still whoUy unknown glacier-tract
of the Sabavchy chain.
From the standpoint of Shaikhle, looking north,
the mountain system is seen unrolling itself in
a series of parallel longitudinal grades up to the
plateau, all of which have to be crossed to get
into the Sabavchy valley. Add the chain bounding
the Sabavchy valley on the north, and these four
chains wiU represent four parallel folds, bearing
E. by 80** N. The nearest, a low range shaped
into small domed summits, consists of variegated
marls, resting conformably on highly decomposed,
no longer recognisable dark slates — ^to all appear-
ance identical with those constituting the two
succeeding chains farther to the north. These are
blue-green argillaceous sandy slates passing into
red violet. The determination of their place must,
however, be reserved tiU the specimens have been
more closely examined.
Of the same material is built up also the third
161
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152 THE SABAVCHY GLACIER
chain. Here, however, are infolded grey lime-
stones and thin beds of sandy-argillaceous com-
position resembling grauwacke. In the fourth
chain these attain the dimensions of thick beds,
alternating with layers of the blue-green slates.
In these limestones is to be found here and
there an accumulation of organic remains pointing
to formation in a shallow sea. Herr Keidel had
the good fortime to discover in these remains a
well-preserved fauna of the uppermost carboni-
ferous formation.
Traversing the first three chains and the longi-
tudinal valleys intercepting them, the third and
most important of which is called Terek, our
road led us to the Kara-bury pass, 9,600 ft.
(8,200 m.) high. This cuts through the third chain,
which again, is known by the herdsmen of the
region as Mansur-tagh. Looking down fix)m
the pass, one sees the Sabavchy valley stretched
below, its lower course about a mile wide. On
both sides there lie against the high, steep walls
of the valley, green-mantled blunt ridges, round
tops, and plateaux, composed of red and white sandy
conglomerates and sandstones proper of tertiary
age. These, covered everywhere with tufty grass,
occupy also the floor of the valley, and there are
divided by a labyrinth of perpendicularly eroded,
dry ravines, 800 — 600 ft. and more deep. The
anterior part of the valley is thereby rendered
impassable. Only at one spot, by coming from
the south-west, by way of a pass (Kysyl-kut) in
these intersecting ridges, is it possible to cross this
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THE RIVER 158
labyrinth of the sandstone plateau and its eminences,
and so enter the Sabavchy valley. The extra-
ordinary ravine-formation witnesses to the volumes
of water, once flowing through the valley — ^waters
which had their origin in the enormous glaciers
formerly developed in the valley. On many places
these sandstones and conglomerates are overlaid
with huge coverings of ancient moraine debris.
On the slope of the chain on the left bank the
tertiary deposits reach higher up than on the right
bank, and are there buried under the ancient
moraine d^ris to such extent that, only a few
cliffs of the sandstones, are seen cropping through
the verdure-clad masses of glacial and fluvio-glacial
drift. The Sabavchy river runs close under its
northern wall in an inaccessible gorge, scooped
out perpendicularly in the sandstones.
The valley divides into two branches, the more
northern of which constitutes the principal valley.
This runs far to the east into the heart of the
Sabavchy chain, which is wholly shrouded in ice.
The southern branch, broader but shorter than the
northern, ramifies into several arms from a wide
trough, filled entirely with snow and nev^ and
surrounded by p3nramidal ice-peaks; its copious
stream imites in the outer valley with the main
Sabavchy river. The bottom of this lateral valley,
hollowed out like that of the main valley^ in deep
dry ravines, lies, on an average, 1,100 ft. higher
than that of the principal valley and consists
also of thick beds of glacier drift, overlaying
the sandstones. One is surprised to find in this
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154 THE SABAVCHY GLACIER
dry southern region the surface of the old drift
masses arrayed in beautiful thick Alpine meadows,
wherecm the inhabitants of the hot plain graze
their cattle in summer. Even extensive pine-
woods are to be seen where the slopes have a
northern exposure. We first rested a night among
the Sartian shepherds, high up in the lateral
valley, and then made our descent into the main
valley to where, at the end of the ridge, dividing
the two valleys and running out towards the
bed of the stream, there stands a fort, built by
Yakub Beg — ^for what purpose is difficult to under-
stand — ^now falling into ruins. From this spot
I undertook the exploration of the Sabavchy
glacier, and for this venture was favoured with
a cloudless day — a rare event in this mountain
Cham. The thermal contrasts between this high
snowy region and the glowing plain at its edge
are excessive, and the consequence is pronounced
condensation phenomena in the cold upland zone,
or stormy outbursts, occurring almost daily.
The way to the snout of the glacier leads
through a zone of tall, almost impassable brush.
This is continued along both banks of the glacier,
over moraine ridges and the debris heaps of the
mountain walls, fencing the glacier to a length
of six and a half miles with a broad dark belt,
which often sends long tongues far up the moun-
tain sides. Through a gatelike contraction of the
valley walls one reaches the glacier, the tongue
of which ends at a height of about 9,000 ft
(2,750 m.) There I was not able to make out
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ASCENDING THE GLACIER 155
any signs of a recent retreat of the ice. Like the
Inylchek glacier, the Sabavchy glacier is, over more
than half its length, overlaid with a mountain-
pile of moraine debris and blocks, presenting an
micommon variety of forms. The pile is still
more stupendous than that on the Inylchek glacier.
Yet, owing to the exceptionally dry climate, the
blocks, often of enormous size, are held together
by no sort of cement. Only loose sand and dry
detritus-gravel lie between them. As a contrast
to this phenomenon one observes on the mountain-
walls thick beds of fine alluvial clay, wherein are
embedded layers of boulders.
The ascent of the glacier, involving incessant
climbing of ridges and crossing of valleys in the
debris, costs no end of time and trouble. In several
expansions of the valleys between the ridges there
lie ice-lakes, some of considerable size. Judged
by their depth, the mass of the glacier-ice must be
of great thickness. Where it rounds off towards
the mountain banks, the ice is very much crevassed,
in part resolved into seracs.
Owing to the amount of time consumed in the
attempt, I did not get farther than some six and
a half mUes up the ice valley, to a spot (10,800 ft.)
where, from the north-east, the Sabavchy valley is
joined by a large glacier valley, the frame of which
is constituted of magnificent and exceedingly steep
mountains. Between the mountain walls there
descends, from a nev^ plateau, stretching east-
north-east as far as the eye can travel, a great
glacier, the long tongue of which, completely
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15S THE SABAVCHY GLACIER
free from dAm» ^ides in m beaotifiil conre out
of the valley and joins the Sftbarcfay glacier, Re-
senting a splendid ^ectade. The faad^groiiDd of
the SabaTcfay valley consists of a doable range of
ice-moantains» 19,000 ft. hi^ and upwards, show-
ing hardly a spct, of faaie rodL The distance
from the point I readied to the vall^s head, I
estimated at over e^;fat miles. Considenng its
situation in a valley that opens to the south-
west and lies near the outskirts ci the hottest and
driest region ci the Tian-Shan, it is astonishing
that the Sabavchy glacier has still at this date,
neverthdess, a total length of at least fomrteen
miles (twenty-two versts). Its massive shidd of
debris protects it from fiqoe&ction. The dimensions,
fcxmerly attained by it are indicated by the old
mnaine remains, w^ preserved in the middle readi
of the valley, ^diich rise 1,300 ft. (400 m.) up
the endosing walls. The matarial of the ^iviron-
ing walls al the valley ccHisists in the main of the
often-moitioned blue-greoi [^yUite-like slates,
which are interstratified with argillaceous sandy
layers and grey limestones. In c<msequence, how-
ever, al their immediate neighbourhood to the
granites, these grey limestones have, through con-
tact, grown crystalline. The zone of the granites
extends, as &r as I could follow it, more than nine
miles (fourte^i versts) up the glader valley, and in-
cludes granites of vastly varying composition, syenite
and gneiss. A dense black metamorphic en^tive
rock which, fiEulher back, I noted as one constituent
in the granite zone, but of which I was able to
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%
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A LONGITUDINAL VALLEY 157
collect only in the moraine some fragments, appears
to be of diabasic nature. The farther one pene-
trates into the valley, the more does one observe in
the moraine debris fragments of black limestones,
slates, and white and reddish marbles. It may
thence be concluded that, as in other parts of the
Central Tian-Shan, so also here, this series of rock
constitutes the highest parts of the moimtain chain
at the head of the valley. The chain bordering
the glacier on the north, presents a remarkable
variety of forms and extremely steep peaks. Behind
it appears another still higher chain. According to
the forty- verst map the source of the Kum-aryk,
or, as it is there called, Ak-su river, should lie
between the two, a representation incorrect in any
case. If there is a longitudinal valley enclosed
between the two chains, as undoubtedly there is,
then, according to reasons explained hitherto, it
could be only a lateral valley of the Kum-
aryk. Whether this longitudinal valley is
identical with the Koi-kaf valley, visited by me
later, I was unfortunately not able to ascertain
{vide farther on). In any case, however, I re-
marked distinctly, between the so-called Ak-su
valley of the forty-verst map and the Sabavchy
valley, yet another valley, running in the same
direction. It appears to be but short. It is
known to the people of Shaikhle, who distinguish
it by the name of KasalaL
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CHAPTER XIII
THE KUKUETUK VALLEY
I POIGNANTLY regretted that the big programme
of the year's work, still outstanding, did not allow
me three or four days more to complete my survey
of the Sabavchy glacier and make a closer inspec-
tion of its lateral valleys.
The return route from Kuchi was somewhat
varied, leading us through the northern spurs of
the tertiary mountain chain, spoken of on the way
to Kum-aryk {vide p. 145). We crossed the skirt
of the mountain cham through the valley of
Darvasse-su, a highly expressive name, seeing the
valley stream issues through a gate-like contraction
in the marl walls into the broader part of the
valley ("Darvasse" signifies door). The springs
here, too, niunerous and strong, can derive their
origin only from the ooze-water of the higher
mountain ranges stretching northward. With-
drawing from this valley, our route lay on the verge
of this marl mountain chain; thence we crossed
the shingle-covered, desert plateau in a south-west
direction, and again reached the oasis of Kukurtuk.
Thence our way to the entrance of the Kukurtuk
valley once more led us some sixteen and a half
miles (twenty-five versts) over similar desert ground.
158
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ENTRANCE OF THE VALLEY 159
At the first glance into the vaUey one is siurprised
at its appearing to be shut in by a comparatively
low and snow-free chain. In order, however, to
the understanding of what is to follow, I must
at once lay stress on the fact, that this apparent
enclosure of the valley is not the real one — ^not the
main ridge forming the watershed between south
and north, but only a chain, running at a short
interval in front of the main ridge and hiding it.
In the neighbourhood — ^namely, at the Kaiche pass
— ^there occurs a ramification in the main ridge.
While the latter pursues its west-south-west course,
the diverging chain takes first, in the shape of a
blimt ridge almost free from perpetual snow, a
south-south-west direction as far as to the axis of
the Kukurtuk valley ; thence, however, it assumes,
though of course with many turns, a direction
averaging north-west, forms the head of the
Kok-rum valley, and, near the Bedel pass, again
joins the main ridge. With its transition into
the north-west direction this chain rears up
strikingly to far above the height of the main
ridge, and forms a series of grand peaks with
considerable glaciers.
At the entrance of the Kukurtuk valley, after
passing a zone of fine-grained conglomerates,
we again came upon the inevitable Schxvagerina-
bearing lime-stones. Stratified pudding-stone
(Deckenschotter) lying in undisturbed position
covers a prodigious area in the widened lower
course of the valley. The river, which on enter-
ing the valley runs still hidden under drift, springs
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160 THE KUKURTUK VALLEY
all at once to view in copious volume a mile higher
up. In these conglomerate-like accumulations,
whose appearance again and again distinctly points
to their glacial origin, the river has carved two
longitudinal terraces {Langsstiifen)^ one sixty to
sixty-five feet above the other, and cuts its way
in a regular, often winding cafton with alternating
angles.
Our way led us for hours far up this caiion.
The cafion character of this landscape is explained
by the dry climate, here prevailing, and the extra-
ordinarily disintegrated condition of the rock of
the valley-walls, which accordingly absorb the
whole precipitation, thus making lateral excava-
tion impossible. The river, rapidly cutting its
way deeper and deeper, has already begun the
formation of a new terrace.
None of the southern Tian-Shan valleys, hitherto
visited, presents a spectacle of disintegration in
the enclosing walls, similar to that exhibited in
this one. The stratigraphic relations are thrown
into such utter confusion, that it is difficult to
form an adequate idea of the grotesque chaos.
Direction and angle of the dip of the rock-series
changes every ten steps. Certain layers you first
see lying below, appear after a short interval
perched high on top, without its being possible to
determine which is the infolded and which the
infolding rock. Light and dark grey limestones
alternate with yellow-white, marble-like limestones
and blue-green slates, here of more argillaceous,
there of more sandy, character. In general, their
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A SLIGHT EARTHQUAKE 161
petrographic character varies with extreme fre-
quency. They are, moreover, in an extraordinary
degree crushed, shattered, and crumpled. Some-
times the different series of rocks form horizons
some miles broad, sometimes hardly more than
thirty feet. In the dark limestones we collected
a very rich upper carboniferous fauna, comprising
three himdred specimens of fifty species. At the
very entrance of the valley we were struck by
the total absence of crystalline material among
the drift and alluvium, and nowhere throughout
the course of the valley could we find crystalline
fragments. We thus received confirmation of the
fact, which I had suspected ever since ascend-
ing the Janart pass, in glancing into the there
very narrow zone of granite {rnde p. 142) — ^namely,
the complete effacement of the crystalline zone
between Janart and KvJcurtuk ; farther to the
west 9 at leasts beyond the Bedel pa^s^ it no longer
crops up in the main watershed and on the south
slope of the mountain chain. On the other hand,
the crystalline formations farther north appear to
be continued to the west in the mighty Borkoldai
range (of which more later).
On marching into the valley a short earthquake,
accompanied with a rumbling noise, was experi-
enced. In this region of severe dislocation that
is a characteristic phenomenon. The valley has
a total length of sixty versts. Accumulation of
ancient moraine d^ris was observable at the
mouths of several lateral valleys, now no longer
holding glaciers. Remains of such debris could
11
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162 THE KUKURTUK VALLEY
be traced also in the principal valley up to a
considerable height on the mountain walls. Even
in this not easily accessible valley we found on
the threshold of an upper stage of it a primitive
barrier, erected across it by Yakub Beg in his
insane Russophobia ; behind the barrier the water
of the stream was formerly banked up into an
artificial lake.
In consequence of the information received in
Uch-Turfan, it was originally my intention to
make with the caravan for the north side of
the mountain chain by way of the Kukurtuk
valley and the pass, that crosses the main ridge
at the head of the valley. It was not long, how-
ever, before I became aware of the impossibility
of such a feat. I therefore resolved at least on
climbing the pass by myself, and there obtaininjg
more accurate orientation respecting the structure
of the mountain chains. Despite imfavourable
weather, I was able, starting from our second
encampment, at about 9,000 ft. (2,820 m.), to
successfully carry out this resolution. In the
upper course of the Kukurtuk valley, throughout
a stretch of some miles, there occur contractions
in the shape of narrow gorges. The high rock-
walls, between which the stream leaves there not
an inch of unoccupied margin, frequently approach
to within fifty feet of each other, and notable
hollowings of the rock may be remarked. Yet,
higher up on the rock-walls, one may frequently
perceive roches moutonn^ and striation due to
the action of ice. This becomes intelligible when.
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THE VALLEY IMPASSABLE 168
higher up the valley, one contemplates the colossal
remains of old morainic drift, into which the bed
of the river is there cut. Several of the affluent
lateral valleys present considerable sections, and in
spite of their present aridity, the streams, that they
once held led to the hollowing out of basin-like
cavities in the principal valley. Next, at a
threshold-like rise in the valley, comes another
contraction, which Yakub Beg turned to account
in again damming up the water into a lake. Shortly
thereafter the main valley becomes impassable. It
runs steeply, as a winding gorge, carrying copious
water, in a north-north-west direction. Farther
advance toward the pass must therefore be made
through a lateral valley, dry at that season, running
to the west and then to the north. That again
soon becomes impassable ; the traveller has no
alternative but to push his way upwards along
the very steep and high walls. In this wise he
again attains the height of a ridge, and soon
reaches a breach, cut into the branch chain formerly
mentioned (p. 159), which diverges from the main
ridge near the Kaiche pass. This branch chain
splits in turn into two arms, divided from each
other by deep, snowy, high-lying trough-shaped
valleys, which send their waters through steep
couloirs into the main valley. The traveller has
therefore the task of making the steep descent
and then steep ascent of 800 — 1,000 ft. twice.
Next, passing through another gap in the last
secondary chain, he reaches the shallow channel,
occupied by a small glacier draining to the main
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164 THE KUKURTUK VALLEY
valley, through which he attams the pass proper.
And on a passage like this, Yakub Beg's Russo-
phobia deemed further fortification needful 1
The waUs enclosing the upper valley present
at first an alternation of rocks, similar to that at
lower levels. Yet, immediately after the ramifica-
tion of the lateral valley, through which the ascent
is made, highly decomposed black slates {Tqfel-
schiefer) occupy a very broad area, while <» the
highest region, on the other hand, the often-
mentioned blue-green slates, constantly changing
in their constitution, predominate alone and form
the summit of the pass (over 14,000 ft ; 4,400 m.),
as also the blunt, nev^-covered heights environing
it. Immediately before entering on this very thick
horizon there lies intercalated, after the black
slates, a zone of about 650 ft of dark oolitic lime-
stones. The whole series trends E. by 20** N., and
dips very steeply, now to the south, now to the
north. Now here, far and wide, there was no
crystalline rock observable, thus demonstrating the
important fact, already mentioned, of the efface-
ment of the crystalline zone. On the pass we
became aware, that the north side is easier to
ascend than the south side, the slopes being
less steep, lying much less imder snow and com-
pletely free from glacier ice — an abnormal pheno-
menon. One sees, also, not more than 2,500 —
8,000 ft below the summit of the pass, beautiful
Alpine meadows. A chain, built of dark slates,
running approximately parallel to the main ridge
and trending westwards toward the Borkoldai chain,
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TWO STRIKING FACTS 166
concurs with the contracted wall, surrounding the
pass itself, in obstructing the view of the higher
mountains to the north. The view is only grand
rearwards, to the south-south-west in the direction
of the western part of the branch chain, above
referred to (vide p. 142), running to the Kok-rum
valley. This branch chain presents a series of very
steep peaks, adorned with extensive glaciers. Its
summits reach to considerably over 16,000 ft.
Two striking facts, hard to reconcile with one
another, were matter of thought to me in the
Kukurtuk valley. With the exception of a few
spots there is no grass growing in the whole of the
principal valley; forest is completely wanting.
The Janart valley, on the other hand, running near
and parallel to it, is comparatively rich in both.
In contrariety with these data, the Kukurtuk
valley receives a comparatively copious supply
of precipitation, thunder-clouds gathering over
it continually. From the neighbouring valleys,
contrariwise, such clouds are absent. From Uch-
Turfan and onwards this fact could be noted.
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CHAPTER XIV
FROM THE KUKUETUK VALLEY TO THE BEDEL
VALLEY AND OVER THE BEDEL PASS TO THE
NORTH
The passage by way of the Kukurtuk pass being
impossible, the only road, available for the caravan,
was that by way of the Bedel pass. The
month of Jmie was nearing its end, and there was
no time to lose. Not wishing to follow the well-
known caravan route running through the steppe
to the Bedel valley, which would have added nothing
to my knowledge, and in order to gain further
insight into the structure of the mountain chain,
we hurried, after clearing the Kukurtuk valley and
taking a short passage across the waste plateau,
in a western direction and entered a broad, dry
valley called Chon-Jar, which cuts westwards and
south-westwards into the spurs of the mountain
chain. The limestones of the walls of the valley
contain organic remains, pressed beyond identifica-
tion.
On its contracting, the valley, which has hitherto
presented only a scanty steppe vegetation, assumes
an Alpine character, with slopes of fine, rich
Alpine meadows. Yet nowhere in the channels
166
Digitized by LjOOQIC
KOK-BELYS PASS 167
was running water to be seen. After mounting
a grassy pass to the west, we descended into
a wide, cauldron-shaped valley. Baiter- Yailak
(9,500 ft.; 2,900 m.), the floor and slopes of which
were clothed with luxuriant Alpine meadows. It
is formed by the convergence of four steep, high
valleys cutting through high limestone ridges of
the environing walls. But, nevertheless, here too,
with the exception of a distant spring, no running
water was to be found. Obviously the steep-piled
layers of the surrounding walls soak up the
precipitation, which runs away at no great depth
in the loose drift soil of the decUvity and the
floor of the valley. In no other way could one
explain the dense growth of grass in these Alpine
meadows. After spending a night with the Kirghiz
of the valley, we followed across Alpine meadows
the broad, dry bed of the main stream, keeping
a southerly course. CUmbing a grassy ridge about
500 ft. high, we descended into a hollow valley
of altogether similar structure with that of Balter-
Yailak. The bed of the stream, then dry, deepened
into a ravine, and cleft a gate-like gap through
the separating wall, thus communicating with the
Baiter- Yailak valley. The beds of the main
streams of these two cauldron-like valleys unite to
form a deep channel, which, through a break in
the east wall of the Baiter- Yailak hollow, strikes
steeply down in a south-east direction. CUmbing
the southern wall of the second cauldron, we reached
a pass, Kok-belys (10,500 ft.; 8,250 m.). Its
summit affords a commanding view of the valley-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
168 TO THE BEDEL VALLEY
ramifications, which cleave the mass of the
mountain chain between the great transverse
valleys of Kukurtuk and Kok-rum, and whence
proceed, towards the TaushkaQ-daria, only two
great channels: Mendagyl-bulak and Tanke-sai
{vide p. 144) ; and these, too, carry water only
periodically. It was interesting to me, to observe
that the main affluent of the Baiter- Yailak is
formed by the bed of a stream, then dry at its
point of confluence, which takes its rise in the
north-west on the high chain of glacier mountains
stretching to the Kok-rum valley {vide p. 169).
As is reasonable to suppose, a strong current is
said to run through the upper coiu^e of the valley
of this stream, likewise named Baiter and also
Ak-bel. But this current, again, does not reach,
at least not superficially, the cauldron-shaped basin
of Baiter- Yailak. These vallejrs, predestined by
situation and structure to the possession of a
plenitude of water, oflfer a striking demonstration
of the fact, that it is not so much evaporation, as
the permeability of the drift floor that is to blame
for the scanty supply of water on the south slope
of the Tian-Shan. From the Ak-bel valley a
high glacier-pass is said to lead into the Kok-rum
valley ; this would explain the name of Ak-bel,
meaning "WTiite pass."
Descending southwards fix^m the pass of
Kok-beljrs, we entered a valley called by the
Khirgiz Khurgo, draining to the Kok-rum.
Its broad water-channel was then likewise
dry. In its lower course the valley contracts,
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KOKRUM VALLEY 169
breaking through a range about 1,200 ft.
(850 m.) high, of conglomerates of fine material^
and cleaving a chasm with almost perpendicular
walls. These conglomerates follow the strike of
the higher limestone ranges, and, as a many-
furrowed, eroded range raised in flat arches, they
form the skirt of the mountain chain as fsir as
the Bedel valley, and thence beyond in a westerly
direction, as far as they could be recognised.
Soon after, the Khurgo valley was seen to join
the Kok-rum valley. From a projecting terrace
near the point of junction, a comprehensive view
is obtained of the winding course of the Kok-shaal
and Taushkan-daria, and of the mighty, but so
little known mountain ranges walling in its
southern bank {vide p. 119 seq.). These ranges
mount to 11,500 ft. (8,500 m.) above sea-level,
and, as could be seen from here, carry notable
glaciers (see also p. 120). From here was clearly
perceived the deep narrow saddle of the Sary-bel
pass, and the broad plateau-like depression of the
Dungaretme pass. We made a steep descent to
the bank of the rapid, copious Kok-rum, which,
as already mentioned, has its origin in the richly
glaciated secondary chain (p. 159). At its head,
too, the Kirghiz told me, were great glaciers.
This statement I was myself able to substantiate
and to fix photographically later on, from a
height I ascended in tiie background of the Bedel
valley.
We soon again quitted the Kok-rum valley,
crossed the high desert plateau in a south-west
Digitized by LjOOQIC
170 TO THE BEDEL VALLEY
direction, and reached the outlet of the Bedel
valley at the place of caravan encampment, Uy-tal.
The picket of the same name, a Chinese forti-
fication with a barrier across the valley, where
examination of the caravans is made, Ues eight
miles (twelve versts) farther back in the valley,
and was not reached till next day.
The Bedel pass is, with the exception of the
Musart pass, the only one possible for caravans
between the north and the south slopes of the
Central Tian-Shan. While the Musart route
leads to Kulja, ministering only the Chinese
traffic, the Bedel route, on the contrary, dis-
emboguing at Przhevalsk, serves the Chinese-
Russian commerce- It has been crossed by
Przhevalski, Pjevtzoflf, and Krassno£f. These, and
also Kaulbars, have published some information
respecting the route. I shall, therefore, in this
preliminary report say but little of this very
interesting thoroughfare, and confine myself to
those of my observations, which refer to data
hitherto either very little known or altogether
unknown. By its clear waters, the copious river
shows at once that there is but Uttle glacier-
formation to be expected in the valley. The road
in the lower part of the valley, on the right bank
and aloof from the river, the bed of which is
impassable, leads through deep ravines in the
enormous boulder deposits of the valley-bottom.
Here, therefore, more than elsewhere one has the
opportunity of appreciating the extraordinary
depth of these piled-up masses. Soon after leaving
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A HORIZON OF SLATES 171
the here uncommonly broad belt of conglomerates,
argillaceous-calcareous, sandy slates of imusual
piebald colouring appear, carved by severe erosion
into cones of blunt pyramidal shape. So ad-
vanced is their decomposition that they break
in pieces at the slightest touch. They proved
to be void of fossils. Continuing our way up
the valley, we reached a mighty horizon of more
solid, grey-blue slates, evidently relating to the
fragile formations in the anterior valley. As to
their geological position, however, no final judgment
can for the present be pronounced. They are
set at a very steep angle ; important disturbance
and great irregularity is observable in their strati-
fication. With them alternate, farther up the
valley, other slates, now of sandy-argillaceous, now of
calcareous-argillaceous constitution. They appear
also, however, each in peculiar complexes and
farther ahead, were relieved by fine, silky, dark slate
{Glanzschiefer). To this series of rocks, which has
a breadth of about ten miles, succeeds a zone of
about two and a half miles in breadth, consisting
of light-coloured, marble-Uke limestones, enclosing
beds of red limestone. On the side of incidence
they are resolved into chaotic rock-series, and
on the opposite side of the valley they form
almost perpendicular, unbroken walls. The south-
western exposure favoured their demolition. On
the limestones follow the same blue-green slates,
of which a narrow zone was noted previously in the
Janart valley (p. 141 seq.)^ and which again in the
Kukiu1;uk valley assume enormous development
Digitized by LjOOQIC
172 TO THE BEDEL VALLEY
(p. 164), and are here in the Bedel vall^ still
mare mightily developed. They form, here and
onwards as £0^ as the pass — ^that is, tor more than
thirteen miles (twenty versts) — ^the enclosing walls,
but here, too, frequently change their petrpgraj^c
character. Sometimes they enclose laminated,
argillaceous-sandy layers, resembling grauwacke,
often also fine, dark slate. Only once more
is this series of rock interrupted by a small
zone of dense, brown limestone ; the amount of
warping, crushing, and disorganisation of the
whole stratified system surpasses all conception.
The enclosing walls, built of this series of rock, are
distinguished by bluntness of form. Old igneous
rock was nowhere observed, nor were any fossils
discovered. But eruptive rocks of diabasic nature
were noticed in some places. The occurrence
of such does not, however, satisfactorily explain
the extraordinary disturbance in the sedimentary
rocks.
In the second third of the valley, which is
altogether about thirty-six miles (fifty-five versts)
long, at a spot where before the ascent of the
pass a camp was pitched, I climbed a high dome,
towering up between the principal valley and a
lateral valley, running in from the north-east
Thence I was able, as already related (p. 169),
to observe and photograph the richly-glaciated
background of the Kok-rum valley. There,
shooting up at the valley's head, a magnificent
ice-peak overtops by several hundreds of yards
the highest level of its environment, reaching
Digitized by VjOOQIC
USUN-GUSH 178
a height which may be reckoned at 17,000 ft.
(5,200 m.). From the Kok-rum valley a heavily
ice-clad pass leads into the already-mentioned
lateral valley {rdde p. 168).
From the height I had gained I was also
able to determine that the main ridge, trending
north-north-east and forming, in a broader sense,
the enclosing right wall proper of the Bedel
valley, was not only many-peaked, but was very
thoroughly clad with glaciers, draining mainly
to the north-west into the important, deep-cut,
unexplored, longitudinal Karakol valley, sirnk
between the Borkoldai chain and the main ridge.
From the middle of the Bedel valley a short,
blunts but high lateral chain, wholly covered with
nevd, is seen stretching in an east to west direction
towards the main ridge, which trends north-north-
east. From the heavily glacier-clad southern
side of the angle, formed by the junction of the
two chains, descends the Chalmaty valley. Its
stream, as reported by the Kirghiz, is the most
copious and most rapid of all the streams on the
south slope of the Kok-shaal-Tau. It debouches
opposite the Aul Safar-bai (p. 122) into the
Kok-shaal. At the head of this Chalmaty valley
there rises a very high and steep mountain of
massive breadth, overtopped in this part of the
Tian-Shan only by the so-called Petroff peak
(pp. 188, 148). Presumably it is the mountain
figuring on the forty-verst map under the name
of Usun-gush. From the Bedel pass I was able
to take a telephotographic likeness of it
Digitized by LjOOQIC
174 TO THE BEDEL VALLEY
The flat saddle of the Bedel pass (about
18,000 ft; 4,300 m.) is situated, not at the
head of the Bedel vaUey, but someidiat to the
west of the pan-shaped trough (Karmulde) at
the head of the vaUey — ^this Karmulde ecmtaining
a small glacier. The view from the pass is
interesting and varied odIj towards the south.
On the north side the outlook is cut off by the
Ishigart'Tau, a chain with a quite uniform series
of peaks. All that is striking in that direction
is the surprisingly important glacier development
of the south verdant of that chain.
The stratigraphic complex of the south side is
continued on the north side of the Bedel pass.
Hence it is the extraordinary difference in the
climatic conditions of the north and the south
slopes of the great chain, under which moist
weather and abundance of water prevail on the
north side, and also the extraordinarily poweri^
glacial action, to which the north side was subjected
in former times, that explains the great difference
in the relief and in the character of the landscape
between the north and the south versants. I must
reserve for the fiiller report the detailed elucidation
of this subject. In a basin-like expansion of the
northern Bedel valley, tertiary sandstones were
observed at a height of about 11,000 ft. (8,300 m.) ;
they are slightly dislocated. The very copious
northern Bedel river soon scoops out a deep bed
in the steeply inclined limestones and sandy argil-
laceous slates in its course, flows in a narrow ravine,
and, shortly before the track reaches the broad.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE RIVER 175
flat saddle, leading into the Ishtyk-su valley, turns
between high, perpendicular waUs of rock sharply
to the east, disappearing from view in an inaccessible
cleft. Through the channel of the Ishtyk-su its
waters reach the Sary-jass, and are then by the
Kum-aryk conducted to the south side — a re-
markable career on the part of this river, when
it is considered how much more easily it might
have reached the region of the Naryn system.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XV
THE WATERSHED RETWEEN NAKYN AND 8AKY-
JA8S AND THE PASSAGE OF THE 80UKA PASS
TO LAKE ISSYK KUL
After crossing the flat pass of Ishtyk (about
11,500 ft ; 8,500 ul) one beholds for the first time
the Borkoldai chain, the eastern part of which, here
in full view, presents indeed a plenitude of glaciers,
but is not particularly steep in its build. It
does not oonv^ the impression of mighty altitude
and imposingly bold character, such as is felt in
the presaice of the magnificent, ice-mailed, giant
peaks of the western part Not till after the
descent into the r^ons of the headwaters of the
Kara-say does one see this chain unfold itself with
complete magnificence, beyond all expectation
and conception. It is remarkable how little of
this chain is hitherto known. Only Kaulbars has
appreciated its significance. The peaks of this
chain, attaining possibly to a height of 19,500 ft.
(6,000 m.) or more, display a beauty and boldness
of structure, a ruggedness and variety in their snow
mantles, that can be matched in but few parts
of the Tian-Shan. One of these grand mountains
was reckoned by Kaulbars to be the highest in
the chiun, and iMiptised by him Mount Catherine,
176
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE.AK-SHIRIAK CHAIN 177
of which I took a telephotographic likeness. It is,
however, considerably exceeded in height by some
mountains, towering farther to the west and others
fardier to the east in the same chain. No less
surprising, especially in respect of nev^ and ice-
covering, as well as extent of glaciers, is the
Ak-shiriak chain, trending north-north-east The
traveller sees it continually to the east of him,
while he pursues the road from the region of the
head waters of the Kara-say to that of the Yak-tash.
In this chain, which altogether attains a length
of about thirty-three miles (fifty versts), but little
rock is seen cropping out to view. The greatest
part lies hidden imder a cloak of fim and ice.
The abnormal feature, however, in the case is
this. The nev^-covered slope and the course of
the great glaciers — ^among which the fine Petroff
glacier, with a length of thirteen miles and giving
rise to the Yak-tash river, takes the first place —
have a precisely western direction towards the
Syrt plateau of Ak-bel, whereas the chain to the
west of this plateau, the Yulushu chain, though
its flanks are directed to the east, shows no
glacier formation. In no part of the Northern
Tian-Shan, in which, with but slight exceptions,
the presence of snow and ice is uniformly depen-
dent upon a northern and eastern exposure of
slope, have 1 encoimtered on a large scale any
instance of a like nature. An explanation of this
phenomenon can only be found in the fact, that
the moist winds have a prevalent bias in favour
of certain directions.
12
Digitized by LjOOQIC
178 BETWEEN NARYN AND SARY-JASS
To the Ak-shiriak chain, whose peaks attain
to only 15,400 ft, (4,500 m,), overtopping the Syrt
plateau by only 2,800—2,600 ft. 700 — 800 m.),
falls the r61e of water-shed between Naryn and
Sary-jass — Le. between Syr-daria and Tarim. This
r61e, however, it plays but defectively. Very
much effaced is the watershed between ttie many-
branched head-water region of the Kara-say in
the west and the Ishtyk-su in the east, as well
as the watershed between the Yak-tash, flowing
westwards, and the Yir-tash, flowing eastwards.
On the flat marshy Sjrrt plateaus, on which the
rivers just mentioned take their rise, the waters
from the surrounding glacier chains flow and
trickle over the shingly fluvioglacial soil in all
directions. They thus go to the formation of a
large number of smaller and larger lakes, lying
flatly embedded amid the greenery of the Alpine
meadows, as also of extensive swamps. In this
wide region the water courses ramify, change
direction, and lose themselves in the swamps to
such a degree that a demarcation of the terri-
tories, drained by each respectively, would be
involved in no small difliculties. How stagnant
this domain is, may be gathered from the &ct
that in the beds of the uncommonly numerous
and copious streams of the plateau hardly anything
is to be found but fine gravel and sand. To drag
any heavier material along with them surpasses
the power of these lazy waters. The lower parts
of the mountain chain are so wrapped in ddbris,
that the steeply inclined layers of limestone and
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A GENERAL LEVEL 179
slate frequently emerge out of the meadow-lands
only a few yards above the debris. Everything
here has acquired a soft, rounded form. At a
remoter time, however, the streams from here
obviously pursued a more energetic course through
the valley. But the enormous masses of moraine
ddbris, which the converging action of the glaciers,
flowing in hither from all sides, piled up, got
gradually washed away in all directions. This
led to a general levelling and almost com-
plete ef&cement of relief. And hence to-day
the water-shed between east and west, be-
tween south and north, seems hardly any longer
recognisable.
In the head water region of the Kara-say and
in the immediate neighbourhood of the glaciers,
at a height of about 12,000 ft. (8,700 m.)— that
is, somewhat higher than the locality near the
Chatyr-kul lake, where Mushketoff first found
them, tertiary red sandstones and conglomerates
were observed. These were further to be detected
at a greater distance westwards on the slope of
the Jitim-Tau, at an approximately equal height.
One can hardly be wrong in concluding, that
these strata were deposited in large mountain
lakes, which at one time lay embedded here,
lasting for long geological periods, and of which
the numerous tarns, that dot the plateau at the
present day, are the remains. The walls surround-
ing the valleys, taken in a broader sense, both
of Kara-say and of Yak-tash, are built of granites
of very different character. Between the Ishtyk
Digitized by LjOOQIC
180 BETWEEN NARYN AND SARY-JASS
pass and the Kara-say Herr Kddd found in the
calcareous cli£& Devonian fossils.
The route we pursued does not coincide entirdy
with that followed by the caravans, and fixim the
head waters of the Yak-tash it diverged altogether
from the caravan route. Whereas the caravans
take thence a north-west directicm and avul
themselves of the easy Barskoun pass to cross the
Terskei-Ala-Tau chain, we turned out of the
Uechy valley (12,000 ft. ; 8,650 m.), a feeder of
the Yak-tash, towards the north, and crossed
the difficult Souka pass (14,000 ft; 4,250 m.)
Whereas the approach to the south side of
this Terskei-Ala-Tau and to the passes which
cross it is, at any point along sixty miles of
its length, easily accomplished over tiie gradual
slope of the Sjni; plateaux, the northern side of
the chain &Us away very steeply to the Issyk Kul
basin.
From the high plateau, rising up to the east
above the Uechy valley, there is a grand view
of the enormous wall of the Terskei- (or Kirg^iiz-)
Ala-Tau. The important glacier system, adorning
even the south side of this mountain chain, far
exceeded my expectations. The very extensive
plateaux forming the waterparting ridge, lie
under a continuous and immense sheet of ice.
The high peaks, some of them mounting to about
18,000 ft. (5,500 m«), are dressed in beautiful
glacier mantles, whose terminal tongues reach
far into the Syrt. All this was fixed in tele-
photographic views. The southern edge of the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE SUKA PASS 181
chain consists, as already related, in great part
of plateaux, and comparatively few peaks overtop
these crestforming glaciated expanses, which, how-
ever, are intersected at intervals by deep breaches.
The western part of the chain, adjoining the passes
of Kerege-tash and Tosor, and the most easterly
part, constitute the exceptions to this character.
There the relief shows very important, boldly
shaped peaks. In the central part, therefore,
on the south side, plateau-formation prevails. The
rim of the ranges towards the north slope, on the
contrary, appears resolved into an almost uninter-
rupted series of fim-covered peaks, displaying the
richest variety of forms and the utmost steepness.
The defile of the Souka pass cuts through the
mighty chain at a place where, on both sides of the
pass-route, the eye lights on magnificent mountain
scenery. On the west side, more particularly,
important glaciers empty into the trough of the
defile. The ascent of the pass was a severe
strain for the caravan ; still more severe was the
descent on the north. At a slight depth below
the summit of the pass one reaches a lake of
complicated outline, which was then firozen,
embedded in a valley, or rather, hoUow, between
the promontoried slopes of a girdle of bold,
ice-clad peaks. Out of the intervening gorges
glaciers are seen, pushing their riven tongues
into the bays of the lake. It is a splendid
spectacle. At the time, however, when we
crossed the lake, the deep mantle of snow, cover-
ing the ice, and the ice itself, were both very
Digitized by LjOOQIC
182 BETWEEN NARYN AND SARY-JASS
much softened, and the passage with the caravan
was hazardous. The day before, a Kirghiz cara-
van on its way up to the pasturing places of the
Kara-say here lost some hundreds of sheep. The
wildness and magnificence of this mountain region
is exceeded in the Tian-Shan only by the moun-
tains bordering the Inylchek glacier.
On the south side of the pass dark limestones
are the prevalent constituent in the enclosing
mountain walls, and they assume a schistose char-
acter. On the pass itself there extends a thick
granite zone, consisting of granites of very varied
composition.
Towards the north there next follows a series
of dark, highly metamorphic, argillaceous slates,
and thereafter again come the dark -limestones.
Thereupon granite appears, with crystalline slates,
as alone predominant, constituting the environing
walls of the valley as far as the neighbourhood
of Lake Issyk KuL The descent from the pass,
across steep declivities, over enormous accumu-
lations of moraine-debris and rock-fragments, is
not easy, but the engirdling mountains are splendid,
as is also the valley itself. The wealth of form
in the environing walls of the principal vaUey,
the magnificent glacier scenery of the lateral
valleys, the richness of wood, water, and Alpine
meadows, all imite in distinguishing the Suka
valley as one of the grandest Alpine valleys of
the Tian-Shan.
A chain of very varied form, carrying small
glaciers, and running in front of the main range
Digitized by LjOOQIC
ARRIVAL AT SLIVKINA 188
of the Terskei-Ala-Tau, parallel to it, is not
entered in the forty- verst map.
Masses of ancient and now green-mantled
moraine-debris form the varied floor of the outer
valley. These masses, which are there spread
out far and wide by the action of water, reach
near to the south shore of Lake Issyk Kul. Old
terminal moraine-walls are found in the middle
part of the Souka valley. In the anterior part
they still attain a very considerable height, and
so completely block the valley, that the track is
carried over them. Behind them there formerly
lay lakes. Also, the lower course of the valley,
through the mountain chain, once held a lake, and
that of very great compass ; there the river now
breaks through huge banks of loose, red tertiary
sandstones, which are overlaid by considerable
accumulations of younger moraine-debris. In
tiiese, two ancient river-terraces are visible; they
follow the lower course of the river, where a third
terrace is in process of formation.
The crossing of the mountain chain from south
to north took us seven days. On July 9th we
arrived at Slivkina, now Pokhrovskaya, on the
south shore of the Issyk Kul, and proceeded
thence to Przhevalsk and Karkara. Though some
objects in our programme were only half effected,
or altogether untouched, the investigations on the
south side of the great chain had nevertheless
consumed more than the anticipated time. In
view, tJierefore, of the far-advanced summer, I
was under apprehensions that the indispensable
Digitized by LjOOQIC
DM BETWWXX XA8TX A3a> SABT^ASS
I anj m wvfl
tfadt tfaqe jippBclwikwi weie hapfiij
not fnlnedL Stodf vc^ko; smIi a&. aecndii^
to dke rc|»orts of the ■stnvs.is «4iinm cjip crig n ced
in tfaoe rcfpoax fswound wj kucjligjtf ioni^ and
aOovred the ponccuti on of nqr mxk in the
moontai dnin tiD tomrds the end of the yesr.
Much, tiicrelbre; if not alU windi I had Kt my
heart on doings I was able to a cc o m ^ ish in a
aatii&ctory manner
Not to swdl this rqioit, irincfa has alreaify
litiiUMd unexpected dnnensions — to a oon^ass
which wif^ iuijieile the printing of it, I am
mfortunately under the necessity of lestnetkig the
account of the further progress of the expedition,
and of its very i mp ort an t and fruitftil kbours, to
a mere cursory review.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XVI
SURVEYING ON THE SEMENOFF AND MUSHKETOFF
OLACIERS
In Karkara and Narynkol (Okhotnichi) it became
necessary to organise the expedition with a view to
a sojourn in the highest regions of the mountain
chain, and in order more particularly to establish
its commissariat on a sound basis, I had to engage
suitable porters in sufficient number, and to buy
fresh horses and many other necessaries. Herr
Keidel, meantime, with a part of the expedi-
tion, made his way through the valley of UUuk-
Karkara, and crossed the Sart-jol pass (12,200 ft. ;
8,720 m.) into the Kok-jar valley, which in its
upper course is known as Kuberganty. There and
in its lateral valleys he was to pursue geological
explorations. He there collected a fauna of the
lower carboniferous formation. Thence he next
crossed the Kashka-tyr pass (12,000 ft. ; 8,700 m.),
and entered the Sary-jass valley. Near the
mouth of the Myn-tyr valley he marked off a
basis about a mile long, which he fixed by geo-
graphical determination, and thence he once more
fixed the height and position of Khan-Tengri
and the most important peaks surrounding it.
After precise calculation of these data, and those
1S6
Digitized by LjOOQIC
IM SE3fEXOFF AND MUSHKETOFP
of die ui ej aui r iu mU of Hor Pfinm, taken tiie
p ie rkni^ year from m dilBa c ut fasai (zidr pi 42),
I fthall be aUe to prodoee tnatwoMj figures
in reipect of the beigbt and sitnrtion of the
ftihrniMtfing peak.
With the bulk of the G^cditkn I Kt off from
Xarynkol on July I9lh, made my way tfarough
the great Kapkak raHey, wfaidi I have afaeaify
cm^sorily described, crossed the Kapkak pass, and
at onoe tamed in tiie direction of the upper
com-K of the Sary-jass, where, a little bekiw the
mout of the Semenoff glacier, I ordered the
prindpal encampment to be set op. The first
and most important task for me was to procure
compoisaticm for the heaviest loss of the fcnre-
gcnng year (vide p. 83) and in thirteen sheets of
the size of 8 by 10 English indies, rqplace the
great tel^hotographic pancmuna of the Central
Tian-Shan, idiich had then been taken firom a
standpoint admirably fitted for the pmrpose.
After a few days* rainy weather, we were
fiavoured by a calm, accompanied by dear atmo-
sphere, and the woric was eminently successful
Meanwhile, biangulating upwards from his basis,
Herr Keidel had likewise arrived at the chief
encampment, and then b^^an to lay the triangular
network &rther above the Semenoff glader.
In nine days he completed this woric, which
at last^ and just at the highest part of the
glader, was very much impeded by bad weather.
The topographic detail was secured by photo-
grammetric views. This period of time I turned
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THE BAYUMKOL PASS 187
to account in making a closer investigation of the
main glacier and its most important tributaries.
From a bivouac situated thirteen miles (twenty
versts) up the glacier, and standing about 18,000 fL
(8,950 m.) high, between two moraine lakes on
the right moraine bank, I penetrated into a wide
ice-valley running eastwards. I climbed up its
broad, nev^-covered saddle (14,400 ft. ; 4,400 m.),
which I had nearly approached {vide p. 80) the
year before, when going up the western Baynmkol
glacier. It gives access to the highest nev^ of the
last-named glacier, and I accordingly name it the
Baynmkol pass. The exceptionally favourable
condition of the fim covering induced me to climb
also a snow-clad summit to the north of the pass,
rising to a height of about 15,400 ft. (4,700 m.).
From both heights I obtained welcome additions
to the previous year's observations on the structure
of the walls, enclosing the Baynmkol valley, and
thus, encircling the Semenoff and Mushketoff
glaciers, all of which were recorded in a number
of views and panoramas.
From a bivouac on the middle moraine of the
chief glacier (12,500 ft. ; 8,800 m.), some ten and a
half miles (sixteen versts) from its tongue, I made
the ascent of a peak, rising on the south edge of
the Semenoff glacier to a height approximately of
15,700 ft (4,800 m.). Its situation is particularly
favourable for the observation of the south-western
slope of the pyramid of Khan-Tengri. It also
afforded instructive insight into the structure of
the grand group of mountains, ranged immediately
Digitized by CjOOQIC
188 SEMENOFF AND MUSHKETOFF
in front, on the south-western side of Khan-Tengri,
as also of the lateral ice-vallejrs of the main glacier,
which have their outlet in the neighbourhood.
By means of the large apparatus, carried to so
commanding a height, I was able to take a number
of instructive telephotographic views.
The most considerable affluent, which the main
glacier receives from the south debouches from a
magnificent valley of about half a mile broad,
exactly at the point, where the axis of the main
glacier bends farthest to the south. Hence this
lateral valley penetrates the most deeply into the
mountain chain towering up on the south. Push-
ing forward into this valley, the bordering ranges
of which are extremely grand — ^not a spot of bare
rock to be seen on their slopes — ^and reaching a gap
some 15,000 ft (4,600 m.) high in the ice- wall
of its western rim, I was able to inform mysdf
respecting the course of the great lateral ice-vaUeys,
which branch off from the lower part of tbe
main glacier, and, bending with a sharp curve
from south to east, thus interpose between the
Semenoff and Mushketoff glaciers. From these,
and other forays in all directions along and across
the ice of the Semenoff glacier, I was able to
collect a store of important information, concerning
this central nev^-basin and its connection with
the surrounding valleys. But for all that, I had
not yet got a reliable answer to the question, out
of which valley rises the terminal cone of Khan-
Tengri?
Having completed his survey of the Semenoff
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THE MUSHKETOFF GLACIER 189
glacier, Herr Kddd, on August 7th, started on
his homeward journey. His military duty called
him back to the fatherland.
I continued my exploratory journey alone, and
betook myself to the Adyr-tyr valley. The next
task devolving on me was to make a complete
circuit of the Mushketoff glacier, to make a
survey of it, and to determine its connection with
the SemenoflF glacier. This was accomplished
in the course of a week. And included in this
task was the ascent of a peak 15,400 ft. high
(4,700 m.), on the north edge of the glacier, £rom
the summit of which a panoramic view was taken
of the magnificent southern wall of the glacier.
Of the Mushketoff glacier I can here only
hurriedly cite a few elementary features. From
its tongue, which ends at about 11,400 ft
(8,480 m.)— that is, some 890 ft. (120 m.) lower
than that of the Semenoff glacier — ^up to its origin
in the nev^-basin of the Semenoff glacier, the
Mushketoff glacier has, according to my deter-
minations, a length of approximately thirteen mUes
(twenty versts). It is, therefore, much longer than
Ignatieff estimated it — ^namely, five miles (eight
versts). The lower part of the glacier is so thickly
covered with debris masses, that hardly a bit of ice
crops through them. Only three to four miles
farther up does the ice become firee ; its surGsice is
there very humpy, and torn in a most extraordinary
manner, whilst it is also bare of snow. In its
last third, however, the ice becomes fairly well
closed, and bears a slight snow-mantle. The total
Digitized by LjOOQIC
190 SEMENOFF AND MUSHKETOFF
fidl of the glacier is indeed slight, but neverthe-
less greater than that of the SemenofF glacier.
As in the case of the latter, its main stream
does not issue from the end of its snout. The
slope of the surface of the glacier towards the
northern bank, the cause of which I have pre-
viously referred to {vide p. 47), causes its main
efflux to issue from the precipitous north slope of
the tongue. Between this and the moimtain wall
at the side there runs a deep trench, through part
of which the glacier-stream runs with rapid current.
The slopes are there ahnost free from snow, but
whoUy covered with debris and blocks of rock. At
their base there stretches, for at least eight miles
(twelve versts) into the region of ice, an irregular,
often interrupted girdle of grass banks with a
fine Alpine flora. The whole of this northern
wall, broken by no valley indentation, bears only
on its highest ridge and on the peaks the ornament
of fim and ice. On the other hand, the wall
bounding the glacier on the south side and
separating it from the Inylchek glacier, presents
quite a wonderfiil chain of ice-peaks, far surpassing
in height and wealth of form the engirdling
southern wall of the Semenoff glacier. Its snowy
mantle is rarely pierced by a particle of rock.
Several of these peaks count among the most
magnificent and highest of the Central Tian-Shan.
Their height was determined both from Pfann's
and from Keidel's basis. Out of high valleys
between the single peaks descend exceedingly steep
and much-crevassed glaciers, which debouche
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
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A LOW BROAD WALL 191
with beautifully curved terminal tongues into the
main glacier. They affect the ice-covering of
the main glacier in a curious way» producing
great irregularity and ruggedness on its surface.
In the middle part of the glacier are fifteen to
twenty ice-lakes of various sizes, green in colour
and quite irregularly distributed. Throughout the
half of its lower course, the glacier has an average
breadth of fully three-fifths of a mile (one verst).
It then gradually widens tUl, in its last third, it
attains a width of two to two and a quarter miles
(three to three and a half versts). There it is
separated from the Semenoff glacier — i.e. its lateral
valleys — only by that low, broad wall, previously
spoken of {vide p. 56 et 8eq.\ crowned by blunt,
snow-capped domes and traversed by the Mushke-
toff pass (14,400 ft. ; 4,400 m.). This wall runs
gradually out into the neo^-basin common to the
two great glaciers^ a basin in no respect connected
with KhanrTengri, and to this fact all hitherto
existing assumptions have to be adjusted. Gigantic
mountain-walls interpose between it and Khan-
Tengri, a fact already disclosed by the results of
the previous year's investigations.
The rocks constituting the environing walls are
the same as in the case of the Semenoff glacier :
an irregular series of dark argillaceous slates,
phyllitic slates, and dark and pale limestones, filled
with fossils, which on account of severe pressure
are no longer identifiable, alternating with gneiss,
granite, dark argillaceous slates of different char-
acter, and light striped marbles. There is frequent
Digitized by LjOOQIC
192 SEMENOFF AND MUSHKETOFF
alternation, but unfortunately the stratigraphic
relations are not determinable. Just as on the
southern wall of the Semenoff glacier the whole
series lies completely buried under fim and ice, also
here; on the northern wall, where snow and ice
recede, the series is everjrwhere covered with a
chaos of shingle and debris.
In this valley, too, firom which I had the privi-
lege of beholding the pyramidal peak of Khan-
Tengri grandly displayed, I obtained no full
assurance as to its situation. I was, however,
more than ever confirmed in the assumption that
its basis must be found in the Inylchek valley.
Of all the great glaciers of the Central Tian-
Shan that I have visited, the Mushketofi* glacier is
the only one, which shows unmistakable signs of
recent retreat
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CHAPTER XVII
SECOND VISIT TO THE INYLCHEK GLACIER, AND DIS-
COVERY OP THE TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
Our next goal was the Inylchek valley. Being
this time aware of its inhospitable nature, and
thus prepared for all contingencies, and further-
more provided with the indispensable number of
stout porters, I hoped our operations would prove
more fruitful this year than the last. On this
depended our chance of getting to the very base
of Khan-Tengri.
As already stated {vide p. 76), I had, the pre-
vious year, when I visited the high plateau
between Tys-ashu and Sary-jass in company with
Herr Pfann, seen from thence the final cone of
Khan-Tengri raised far higher out of its surround-
ings, than from any other point, even at a greater
altitude. As I hoped, somewhere in the region of
that plateau, to find some still more favourable
spot for an examination of the ranges grouped
round Khan-Tengri, I sent the caravan by the
valley route to the Tys-ashu valley, while I with a
small party turned westwards. Ascending the low-
browed ridge, forming the margin of the Adyr-tyr
middle course, and crossing its crowning plateau, I
193 18
Digitized by LjOOQIC
194 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
traversed the upper Jam-tama valley and its western
border, and thus reached the deeply eroded valleys
of the head waters of the Kusgun-ya {vide p, 62).
Neither these nor the previously-mentioned valley
are shown on the maps, as I pointed out when
describing the Tys-ashu valley. They have their
sources in the south-east and south-south-east, in
the broad, shallow, lofty nev^-basins, stretching
between the southern border of the MushketoflP
glacier and the northern chain of the Inylchek
valley, and debouche northwards in the Sary-jass.
At the head of the Kusgun-ya valley I moimted
a high dome (about 12,800 ft. ; 8,750 m.), and
beheld due east of me the pyramidal summit of
Khan-Tengri, towering high above the surround-
ing ranges. Here I commanded a fiill view of
the black belt, which at the foot of the summit
proper encircles the west and north-west flanks
of the mountain, and which I had already partly
seen from other points. Close to it was also
visible a broad black ridge, both belt and ridge
contrasting sharply with the light-coloured pyra-
midal summit. Not till later was I able to
determine the true character of this interstratified
black formation.
North-east of Khan-Tengri I noticed, for the
first time, a sharp snowy peak, which was evidently
higher even than the giants, rising in the angle
between the Bayumkol and SemenoflP glaciers.
This summit seemed to shoot up out of a range,
radiating in an east-north-easterly direction from
Khan-Tengri. Hence, I had to assume that, be-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
PROBLEMS 195
tween this range and another, running parallel
with it, a valley intervened, which, leading from
the foot of Khan-Tengri, followed the direction
of that range — that is, to the east or south-east.
In this case the snowfields of the culminating
summit might possibly not drain at all to the
west, so that perhaps it would be useless to try
to approach the summit from this direction. But
in case some valley really did drain those vast
fields of nev^ in an easterly direction, which
of the streams, seen in dl my wanderings,
was copious enough to be its outlet and
where does it debouche? In the northern, or
more probably in the southern, Musart valley?
I surely must have noticed such a voluminous
a£9uent, did it enter either of those valleys. But
if, after all, there exists drainage from Khan-
Tengri to the west, does it flow through the
channel of the Inylchek, or through that of the
large parallel Kajmdy valley, stretching still more
to the south? These were the problems which
pressed upon me. Doubtless, from all sides one
may see the gigantic final pyramid of the cul-
minating summit of the Tian-Shan system. It
is seen towering some 8,800 ft (1,000 m.) above all
the surrounding ranges, although, owing to the
defective character of all extant maps, one is
unable to say from which of the many diverging
valleys it shoots upwards. Thus my second
summer in the Tian-Shan was drawing to a close,
while the main problem was still shrouded in
mystery. On the possibility of ascending the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
196 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
Inylchek glacier to its source, might depend the
solution of the puzzle.
After taking a telephotographic view of the
giant peak and of the chains encircling it, I
descended into the western branch of the Kusgun-
ya valley, and ascended nearly to the same height
on the Tin: plateau, where I made additional
surveys, and then hastened down to the Tys-
ashu valley, where I again joined the caravan.
In the Kusgun-ya valley I was able to determine
the intrusion of diabasic rocks, which had calcined
red and fritted the environing limestones, exactly
as I had noticed the previous year in the neigh-
bourhood of the TjTS-ashu pass {vide p. 65).
The caravan crossed this pass, which I now also
preferred as the shortest way to the Inylchek
valley, though not without serious difficulties.
It was alone due to the heroic co-operation of all
my people that no serious mishap occurred on
the glacier of the pass, which was in a very bad
condition. On the south side, while still high up
the pass, we were detained two days by snow-
storms before it was possible to make our way
down to the valley. Two miles (three versts)
below the tongue of the glacier ice I established
our headquarters, this time on the right bank.
The difficult task of traversing the huge glacier
was at once taken in hand. I first of aU set up
a store of provisions about six and a half miles (ten
versts) up the glacier, and then moved up the en-
campment from post to post. Owing to the great
obstacles, presented by the mountains of boulder
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A BLACK BUTTRESS 197
drift encumbering the surface of the ice, as already
described, we made but slow progress on the
lower course of the huge ice-stream. To under-
stand what follows, I must here return, however
briefly, to the observations made the previous
year: After covering about two miles (three versts)
on the glacier, one sees rising, far ahead, out of the
ice-field, a high, dark, and massive buttress, which
divides the glacier into two branches, a narrower
northern one, and a much broader southern one.
It was soon seen, that this rocky buttress could
not be merely the wall of some isolated eminence
rising out of the glacier, since its brow was sur-
mounted by snowy crests, rising behind it. Hence
the black buttress was evidently the abrupt
escarpment of a mountain range, branching off
somewhere from the confining ranges of the
Inylchek glacier valley, and projecting south-west-
wards into the broad ice-field. Advancing about
500 yds. (half a verst) farther, and looking up the
slope of the glacier, we perceived the p3nramidal
top of Khan-Tengri to the left of, but far
beyond, the dark escarpment, without being able
to ascertain with certainty how far beyond, or to
say from what range it springs. A few hundred
steps farther, and the interesting picture has again
vanished. Still, it seemed highly probable that,
if we succeeded in penetrating into the northern
branch of the glacier valley, we should necessarily
get near to the basis of the pyramid, whether it
rose there at the head of the valley, on the water-
shed, or in some intersecting side-valley. On
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198 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
this I based my plan, and felt confident that it
must succeed, if only the weather proved
propitious.
At that time I was not yet aware that Khan-
Tengri could also be sighted farther out, in the
upper middle course of the Inylchek valley. Nor
would the fact have helped, since, owing to the
peculiar shifting of the bounding ranges, the view
from thfit quarter would afford no certain clue to
the real position of the mountain.
I next shifted the camp on to the (orographical)
left margin of the glacier, so far up (about ten and
a half miles from its lower end) tJiat we found
ourselves just opposite the southern termination
of the intervening range. Here I could satisfy
myself for the first time of the important fact,
that this was a very considerable mountain massifs
a quite compact spur, which must evidently
branch off from the ridge forming the head of
the valley — ^that is, from the main water-dividing
range trending eastwards. Out of the plateau-
shaped crest of the imposing intervening range,
one could now see cropping up some rugged,
lofty, and snowy smnmits ; but here nothing more
was to be seen of Khan-TengrL
The material of which this great intervening
range is built up, is the same as that of the main
chains flanking the glacier. First of all, a narrow
belt of phyllitic and sericitic schists of varied char-
acter ; then dark and coloured clay-schists, diversely
metamorphosed, extremely pressed and crushed
out; then light and dark limestones; further on
Digitized by LjOOQIC
J \Ki: >;ARA KtL&W- Afl^UI H,^yj IT. (SEL h. ?Go).
I'AKTINC ar IMVLtHEX ClACIER.
[To /ace p. 198.
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
.^ iifcci^:!:::
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
A MORAINE GIRDLE 199
lamellated, sandy-clay strata, whose nature and
colour are constantly changing ; again, dark lime-
stones, and lastly white and striped marble. With
all its clearness of arrangement as a. whole, this
vast stratified system shows in places the greatest
irregularity, disorder, and tremendous disturbance.
Old crystalline rocks are to be seen neither in
the central massif nor in the bprder-ranges. The
limestones have been greatly metamorphosed and
in several beds occur very numerous organic
remains, changed to silicates, but nothing that
can be clearly identified. At the mouths, how-
ever, of some lateral valleys I was able to detect
some lower carboniferous fossils in the fi'agments
of limestone drift brought down by the ice.
Where it is not yet divided by the middle
range, the glacial valley has a breadth of froia two
and a half to three miles, and farther on, where
it is no longer covered with boulder drift, it is
traversed lengthwise by five parallel moraines.
Even in these no fi-agments of primitive rocks
are to be seen. All the more surprising is the
occurrence of an exceptionally huge granite
moraine on the left margin, which was followed
by our ascent. This moraine girdle consists ex-
clusively of blocks of light-coloured granite of
varied structure, and pegmatite, often of quite
colossal dimensions. Almost from the tongue-end
of the glacier up to this point — that is, at least
ten miles (fifteen versts) — it formed the left margin
of the glacier, and of all the morainic beds of
the main glacier is by far the largest Whence
Digitized by LjOOQIC
200 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
came all these masses of granite drift, since here
in the valley no granite occurs anywhere ?
From the camp on the left edge of the glacier,
where the slopes of the old bank-moraines, facing
northwards still bear a thick carpet of herbage
in spite of their position so far within the realm
of ice, an attempt was now made to penetrate up
the northern branch of the glacier. Where the
middle range divides the enormous ice-field it is
very uneven, and unusually crevassed, owing to
compression against the cliffs. The crossing was
difficult, and when at last we approached the
entrance of the northern glacial valley, we found
ourselves suddenly confronted by a wide de-
pression, which had hitherto been hidden by the
ridges and furrows of the glacier's broad back. It
stood at a level of about 11,800 ft. (8,600 m.),
and was filled with an icy lake, in whose blue
waters floated thousands of tiny icebergs and frozen
blocks in every shape and form — altogether a
magnificent sight
The lake extends for three-quarters of a mile
across to the opposite bank, where the splendid
picture ends in a very high and picturesque,
bold peak, which springs from the dividing ridge
between the MushketoflP and Inylchek glaciers.
My admiration, however, soon pelded to a
feeling of disappointment The lake was found
to be enclosed on both sides by precipitous rocky
walls, about 8,900 ft. (1,200 m.) high, which
descend close to the water's edge. Attempts were
made both on the north and south side to
Digitized by LjOOQIC
OBSTACLES 201
clamber round these walls, and thus to turn the
lake, but all in vain. The lake stretches for
about two and a half miles (four versts) into the
northern branch of the glacier, which here averages
three-quarters of a mile in breadth, and would
probably have oflPered no further obstacles to the
passage over its stirface. Owing to the northerly
bend of the southern flank of the valley, here,
too, no view could be had of Khan-Tengri. But
the dazzling white SemenoflP peak could be seen,
rising quite in the background of the long ice-
valley or even still farther back. As we had
hitherto always seen Khan-Tengri to the south-
west of this peak, there could no longer be any
doubt, that the base of Khan-Tengri must be
reached through this glacier valley. Thus, the
goal which I had so long yearned for and
struggled to gain seemed now near at hand, yet
could not be reached. At this I was naturally
much disheartened.
The only possibility of penetrating into the
valley was by crossing the range on the
southern side — ^that is, the middle range. For
this two days would be required, and so difficult
an undertaking could never be carried out with
heavily laden porters. But without a supply of
provisions and the most indispensable camp
requisites, it was not advisable to penetrate into a
glacier valley, which apparently extended at least
thirty versts farther to the north-east The
additional supplies would also have to be for-
warded by the same difficult route, since under
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202 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
the most favourable circumstances we could not
get back under six days. Hence the attempt had
to be given up, and with it my project seemed
to be once more defeated, as in the previous year.
But it was now made quite clear that the mystery
of Khan-Tengri would really have been solved on
that occasion in the previous year, had not the
ascent of the snowy peak on the southern border
of the Mushketoff glacier been thwarted by the
avalanche when within a few feet of the summit
{vide p* 57). But, despite all adverse circumstances,
I was determined not to give the matter up.
In order to settle the question, as to whether
the base of the monarch of the Tian-Shan might
not also be reached fix)m the southern branch
of the Inylchek glacier, we ascended a peak on
its left bank fix)m 16,400 to 18,000 ft. (5,000—
5,500 m.) high as far as its shoulder, a sort of
platform about 14,700 ft. (4,500 m.) high. This
projecting ledge presented an excellent standpoint
for overlooking and taking telephotographic and
ordinary views of all the enclosing ranges of
the vast glacial basin, with the middle range, the
icy lake, etc. I must here point out, that the
chain, skirting the Mushketoff glacier on its south
side — ^that is, the chain on the north side of the
Inylchek glacier — also presents on its southern
slopes the aspect of an almost uninterrupted
mantle of ice and snow, not indeed, fix)m crest
to base, as on its northern slope, but at any rate
down to half its height, and, seen even from this
position, it produces a profound impression from
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A SNOWY PYRAMID 208
the grandeur of its mountain forms. Especially
valuable to me was the discovery that, far beyond
the point at which the glacier again describes a
sharp bend to the north-east, there rose the
upper portion of a snowy pyramid, which, from
its form and aspect, could only be the summit
of Khan-Tengri, and consequently, that its base
must also be reached through the southern
glacier valley. Moreover, fix)m the trend of the
moraines, traversing the broad ice-fields in curved
lines, it could be quite clearly perceived, that
archaean rocks do not enter into the structure of
the culminating peak, nor of the most elevated
section of the Tian-Shan at all. The light-
coloured granite moraine, sharply distinguished
from the neighboiujng dark moraines, could now
be followed only for some eight miles (twelve
versts) farther up the left margin of the glacier,
where it abruptly terminates at the mouth of a
lateral valley. Hence the granite masses could
only have been derived from this lateral valley.
The essential point now was to push forward,
in order accurately to corroborate all these new
fiicts by completely surveying the farther course
of the glacier, the extent of which so greatly ex-
ceeded all previous assumptions. My supplies
were, however, limited, the distance from head-
quarters considerable, communication difficult,
the weather unsettled and doubtfrd. Hence the
work had to be done rapidly if at all. With a
tremendous effort the camp was moved some
thirteen miles (twenty versts) farther up the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
204 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
glacier, where I was able to grant a respite to
the almost exhausted porters, with the intention
of then pushing on alone with the two Tyrolese.
On the way up fix)m the forking of the valley
we soon reached a portion of the glacier unen-
cumbered with drift, showing only at unequal
intervals the dark lines of the three medial and
two lateral moraines. In each of these moraines
different materials prevail As already stated, the
light-coloured granitic moraine on the left margin
accompanied our route only for about eight miles
(twelve versts) more. Here the mountain rampart
is pierced by a glacial valley about three-quarters
of a mile (one verst) broad, with a perfectly level
surface (height at confluence about 12,600 ft. ;
8,850 m.). Very imposing are the icy walls en-
closing this valley, but not an inch of bare rock
is to be seen, to account for the mass of granite
debris in the moraine. But at its head the walls
fall away suddenly, and just beyond there seems
to be a large, longitudinal valley, running parallel,
with the Inylchek. From the information here
obtained I could at that time only take it for
the Kayndy valley. Yet it seemed strange and
hard to explain, that, immediately to the west
of the granite-bearing side-valley, and branching
south-westwards towards the parallel valley, a
ridge crowned by a large snowy plateau should
be seen projecting from the dividing range be-
tween the two main valleys out into the glacier
of the next parallel valley. My standpoint was
too low, to allow me to follow the course of this
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE CHIEF GLACIER 205
ridge for more than a short distance. Hence I
did not realise the part played by it until I
visited the Kayndy valley. As the huge masses
of granitic deposits — ^in the main valley alone
the moraine has already a length of about
seventeen miles (twenty-six versts)— -come ex-
clusively from this lateral valley, I necessarily
inferred the existence of a large granite nuisdf
in the parallel valley. In the immediately
following moraine light grey limestones prevail ;
in the next, dark schists, intermingled with marble ;
in the fourth, marble almost exclusively, in blocks
sometimes of huge size ; lastly, in the right lateral
moraine, dark eruptive rocks, about which I shall
have more to say presently. From the distribution
of the rocky elements it was to be inferred that
each of these moraines had its source in a mountain
recess, where a distinct formation prevailed.
The chief glacier, which so far had already a
breadth of over two miles (three versts), expands
here to about four versts. The chain on the right
margin — ^that is, the middle range dividing the
valley — ^is intersected by no transverse valleys, and
farrowed only by gullies high up. On the other
hand, in the range on the left bank, valley succeeds
to valley, each enclosing magnificent, extensive
glaciers. By the pressure of these lateral glaciers,
the ice of the chief glacier has here been pent up
and tossed into chaotic crevasses. We were thus
driven to the right side, where crevasses were
certainly not lacking, but where they could be
turned. Here the ice was disposed in hillocks,
Digitized by LjOOQIC
206 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
chiefly through irregular thawing, due to the
unequal distribution of the overl3dng detritus, and
partly through the erosion of water-currents.
In the range on the right side, there now
appear extended walls of almost black eruptive
matter, standing out sharply in a long series
from the light-coloured schists and marble declivi-
ties. These are interstratified masses of highly
metamorphic rock, which are doubtless well
developed also on the southern margin, as I was
able actually to notice in a few places. But on
that side most of the formations are hidden beneath
the almost unbroken snow and ice mantle of the
slopes, there facing northwards. It is scarcely
possible to form an adequate idea of the endlessly
varied outlines and grandeur of the crests, which
rise above this almost uninterrupted glacial ram-
part It is of very considerable breadth, and
divided into several ridges by trough-shaped high
valleys.
To judge from the altitude of the very numerous
glacier tables, consisting mostly of large marble
slabs, the whole thickness of ice, mdted during
the summer, was no more than three to five
feet — a quantity easily replaced by the winter,
which lasts from seven to eight months in this
region. The shortness of the summer season,
lasting at most three months, the enormous extent
of the glacier, its slight incline (only 140 ft. per
mile), the immense accmnulation of snow on the
border-ranges, encircling the upper glacial basin,
and, lastly, the thick covering of detritus on
Digitized by LjOOQIC
AN UNBROKEN ICEFIELD 207
its lower course, explain the stability of this ice-
stream.
Whether 1 should reach Khan-Tengri now
depended on the projected advance, which 1 had
determined to make with the two Tyrolese from
the last elevated encampment. Only a few
miles higher up we entered upon an unbroken
icefield, with a very gentle incline, and covered
with an almost firm and nearly level coating of
snow. These conditions enabled us to push
very rapidly forward on the glacier — ^here about
two miles (three versts) broad, and penetrating
deeply into the heart of the frozen mountains. As
far as the eye could reach all was dazzling white ;
from the wall on the right margin alone there
projected sharply a dark, rocky blufi*, standing out
boldly in the almost arctic landscape, and con-
cealing what lay beyond. Should we there find
the long sought for Khan-Tengri ? The range
on the left side, too, assumes, northwards of the
wide granite-bearing lateral valley, more and more
the form of a massifs to which a series of high-
l3dng conies and valleys gives a remarkably
diversified configuration. Extraordinary masses of
nev^ are here stored up, while picturesque glaciers
descend thence to the valley. The entirely
glaciated range, which apparently closes the head
of the valley, branches into two spurs, which at
first run parallel, but one of which soon turns east,
the other east-south-east. Thus here, too, as so
often elsewhere, we have a two-fold conformation.
We had now been traversing the icefield for
Digitized by LjOOQIC
208 TRUE POSITION OF KHANTENGRI
nearly five hours at high speed; the enclosiiig
escarpments began to £ei11 away; the lateral
glacial valleys grew shorter, broader, mostly
romided o£P at their heads, and still the dark
bluff mysteriously concealed the riddle <^ Elian-
Tengri fix)m our prying eyes. Then, suddenly,
something white b^fan to assume prominence
behind the black edge of the promontory —
nothing yet very conspicuous, but with every
step forward the white object grew bigger and
bigger. A fine snowy summit, glittering in the
sun, appeared aloft, colossal white marble buttresses
projecting fix>m it ; a few steps farther, and a huge
pyramid stood out fireely, its base also soon
coming into view. The giant mountain, the
monarch of the Tian-Shan, revealed himself to
my enraptured gaze in all his naked majesty, firom
his feet, rooted in the glacier ice, up to his crown,
wrapt in sunlit shifting mists. Nothing whatever
intervened to conceal any part of the so long
mysteriously masked base of the mountain. I found
myself standing close to its southern foot, and con-
templated in wonder, with amazed and searching
glance, the sublime spectacle. The strain of the
last few weeks, which had at last grown almost
unbearable, was relieved in an instant; the goal
had been reached, which I had eagerly struggled
for with all the strength of mind and wilL My
feelings at that moment bafiled all description.
I know of no other great mountain that is so
completely cast in a single unbroken mould, so
evenly scarped, without shoulder or arite from its
Digitized by LjOOQIC
RESULTS 209
topmost crest down to the valley. Yet I should
like at once to point out that, however powerful
the impression it produced, still, it did not corre-
spond to what might be expected from the solitary
grandeur of Khan-Tengri, which so greatly over-
tops all other surrounding peaks. I stood too
near its base, and at too low a level, to see its
outlines in proper perspective and without too
much foreshortening. The altitude reached by
me on the glacier was about 14,800 or 15,000 ft.
(4,500 or 4,600 m.) ; and if the summit of Khan-
Tengri attains 28,600 ft. (7,200 m.), the difference
of 8,500—8,800 ft. (2,600—2,700 m.) was com-
pressed into far too narrow an optic angle.
Naturally, this effect must be still more marked
in the photographs taken by me at this spot. In
order to do fiiU justice to the majestic form of
the monarch of the Tian-Shan, and render it in
the picture, an elevated point would have to
be scaled in the range bounding the glacier on
the south, opposite the mountain, at a distance of
about two and a half versts. For this, however,
there would be needed long preparatory work and
especially settled weather; but this had already
been for some time unsettled, with snowstorms
every afternoon, and another was just then
evidently approaching.
It was now quite clears that the culminating
eminence of the whole Tian-Shan does not stand in
the main watershed, and is not a nucleus of converging
ranges, so that all preconceived notions of the part
played by it in the Tian-Shan system must be given
14
Digitized by LjOOQIC
210 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
up. The pyramidal summit rises, in fact, out of
the secondary spur, which projects fix)m the main
range far to the south-west, and divides the
Inylchek glacier valley into two sections. Between
th^ secondary spur and the part of the main range
which had hitherto appeared to close in the head
of the valley, the southern main glacier is pro-
longed for a much greater distance than could
be supposed, running north-eastwards through a
somewhat winding vdley, which, from this point,
narrows considerably and at the same time becomes
steeper. I was unable to see up to the head of
this valley. To do so I should have had to
advance at least four miles (six versts) farther up
the main glacier, for which there was no time,
while the attempt was prevented by the state of
the weather, visibly growing more threatening.
Up to the foot of Klian-Tengri I had covered
thirty-five miles (fifty-three versts) on the glacier,
and, as already stated, the distance as far as the
entrance to the glacier- valley, now narrowing away
to the north-east, was about four miles (six versts).
According to my estimate, based on the trend
of the crests, this uppermost glacial valley must
extend at least from four to five miles (six to eight
versts) farther to the north-east. Hence the
Inylchek glacier mtist have a total length of from
forty-three to forty-six miles {sixty-five to seventy
versts), as compared with the hitherto-given estimate
of from six and a half to eight miles {ten to
twelve versts). It accordingly ranks with the very
largest ice-streams of the mainland. I have eveiy
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE TRUE NUCLEUS 211
reason to assume, that the junction of the lateral
mountain branch, beanng Khan-Tengri, with the
main range takes place at or near the so-called
" Marble Wall," in the Bayumkol valley — ^the very
spot which figures on all maps as Khan-Tengri itself.
Hence, not Khan-Tengri, hut the ^* Marble Wall,''
is the true nttcletis, the " knot " of the main rami-
fications of the Central Tian-Shan system. As it
had now to be named, I could find no name more
suitable to its importance, than that of the first
President of the Imperial Russian Geographical
Society, His Imperial Highness Grand Duke
Nicholas Mikhailovich, who takes such a lively
interest in the exploration of the Tian-Shan. I
accordingly propose to call this central sununit
Mount Nicholas Mikhailovich.
As was already to be inferred fix>m the preceding
observations, we must now give up the hitherto
current xnew, that primitive rocks enter into the
structure of Khan-Tengri, and all the inferences
associated with this view must similarly fall to the
ground.
The mmt elevated and central region of the
Tian-Shan is built up exclusively of sedimentary
rocks, as has already been shown by my previous
observations, and was confirmed by all my subsequent
researches. The pyramidal cone of Khan-Tengri
consists of more or less metamorphic limestones,
and of stratified marbles. In the structure of its base
the same limestones are associated with diversely
metamorphosed and even crystallised schists. In
this series of formations are interstratified huge
Digitized by LjOOQIC
212 TRUE POSITION OF KHANTENGRI
masses of dark^ metamcHphic rocks, apparently
of diabasic character, constituting the black belt
{vide p. 194), which encircles the pjrramid, and
which had already been noticed by some travellers
from a distance. Of the same rocks is formed the
broad dark ridge, which is seen close .by, especially
on the west side. How powerfully the trans-
forming forces have co-operated with the contact
of the eruptive rocks is seen in the fact, that in
their neighbourhood, the limestones and schists
have been calcined and fritted a deep red. Fossils,
collected by me in the limestones of the lower part
of the glacier valley, may perhaps justify an
inference, concerning the age of all these deposits.
Now, if Khan-Tengri does not owe its origin to
any of the eruptive (primitive) rocks, how are we
to explain its peculiar isolated position, the mystery
of its solitary eminence, towering still some
2,600—8,280 ft (800—1,000 m.) above all the
neighbouring summits? It may be noticed even
from the middle course of the Inylchek valley
that, despite all local disturbances, the general
stratigraphic structure of the ranges shows on the
whole a southern dip on the southern rampart ; and
the stratified beds on the northern rampart, on the
contrary, show in general a northern dip, apart
of course from greater or less deviations to the
east and west This may be observed even along
the flanks of the middle range, dividing the
Inylchek glacier valley, and in the very structure
of Khan-Tengri itself Here, then, we seem to
have the core of a formerly eccisting colossal
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A GLACIER VALLEY 218
anticUnal^ which, oxving to subsidence and fatUts
along the periphery, was ruptured and collapsed.
In this report frequent mention has been made of
extensive areas of subsidence and faults in the
highlands north of the Inylehek valley, and such
were subsequently observed in the south also.
O/* the crown of the old arch nothing has been
preserved, save the summit of Khan-Tengri. Thus
and thus alone can its isolated eminence in the
vast Tian-Shan system be explained, an eminence
which, apart from igneous cones, is without
example in mountain systems of like extent. I
am sorry I must here refrain from entering more
fully into this subject, which will be dealt with in
the more detailed report
Facing my standpoint at the foot of Khan-
Tengri there opens in the southern rampart a
glacier valley, which averages about one verst
broad, slopes gently upwards, and at its head
shows only a broad, flat sill. It must give easy
access to the immediately following large parallel,
Umgitu^Jinal valley, which doubtless conceals a glacier
rivalling the Inylehek, but of which hitherto nobody
had any knowledge. Had we been provided with
the needful supplies, fuel, and the requisite number
of porters, we might have started fr*om this point
on the exploration of this large unknown glacier,
and at the same time followed the course of the
Inylehek glacier to its very head, and explored
more carefrdly its enclosing ramparts. But when
it is remembered that the distance from our base
at Narynkol was about 180 miles, by a route in
Digitized by LjOOQIC
214 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
places very difficult, and that most of what was
required for a party, numbering at least ten, and
for a stay of several weeks in this icy region, would
have to be brought thence, it will be understood
that such an undertaking exceeded the resources
of a private explorer. It would, in the first place,
have been quite impossible for him, in a country
like this, to hire the additional number of trust-
worthy, experienced and disciplined porters, in-
dispensable for the purpose, and whose number
I estimate at fi-om twenty to twenty-five. But
not more than at most ten really capable and good
climbing porters could anywhere be obtained;
even these would be found wanting at critical
moments, as had so often happened to me, and
the expedition would then fail in its object An
expedition, organised by the Imperial Russian
Geographical Society, and backed up by the
Government, could alone carry out such an imder-
taking with success. As I hoped in any case to
be able, during the further course of the journey,
to penetrate fi-om some point of its middle course
into that large, parallel, longitudinal valley, I did
not regret the opportunity now postponed. As
it turned out, however, this unknown glacial
region was fated to remain closed for me also.
I should like here to make a few brief remarks
on the possibility of climbing Khan-Tengri, as
it has been wrongly ^sumed, that this exploit was
the main object of my expedition. The heavily
glaciated plateau, crowning the ridge out of which
rises up the huge pyramid, I estimate at about
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE PYRAMID 215
1,800 or 1,600 ft. (400 or 500 m.) above my
standpoint on the glacier. At the west base of
the pyramid a saddle filled with nev^ is sunk deep
in the back of the plateau-like ridge; from this
a steep but still passable glacier coidoir descends
to the main glacier. Hence the saddle can be
reached without any great difficulty, and from it
the pyramid may still rise to a height of about
6,900 ft. (2,100 m.). The southern arHe and the
south face are unassailable, the very thought of
attacking them being excluded by their tremen-
dously steep glaciated slope. A little more hope
is awakened by the rocky and much curved south-
west arHe. If the angle of inclination of the
pyramid's south-west arite be put only at forty-five
degrees, a very moderate estimation, the absolute
height of the culminating point above the saddle at
6,900 ft. (2,100 m.), and the windings of the ridge
be taken into consideration, there would be rather
more than 9,900 ft. (3,000 m.) of a rock arHe to be
surmounted. Since, as already stated, the pjrramid
consists of marble, which, as is well known, is
the kind of rock that presents the greatest
difficulty to climbers, while in places the strata
are disposed one above the other like tiles on a
roof, the experienced Alpinist will be able for
himself to form some idea of the difficulties
awaiting him. Nor are there any chimneys, by
which the ascent might be facilitated. Licdges
and terraces, as far as can be judged fr*om below,
are hardly discoverable, except a little beneath
the sununit, while, on the other hand, there is
Digitized by LjOOQIC
216 TRUE POSITION OF KHAN-TENGRI
no lack of all kinds of obstacles along the arite.
Yet this side offers a better promise of reaching
the top, than any other direction.
A traveller, who a few years ago observed Khan-
Tengri fix)m the Sary-jass valley, and perhaps
also fix>m a somewhat nearer standpoint, con-
sidered, apart fix)m the great mistake he made
regarding the direction, fix>m which the mountain
should be approached, that the north-north-east
slope, with its great chimney, was of relatively
easy ascent. This, however, is not the case. On
several occasions we had sufficiently close views
of that wall, and all the members of the expedition
were unanimously of opinion, that it offered not
the slightest chance of a successful ascent.
A sine qua non for every attempt is, naturally^
the possibility of bringing thither everything
needed for several weeks' stay in that glacial region
so difficult of access. What this means has already
been pointed out Lastly, the very precarious
climatic conditions have to be considered. If
icy winds blew daily down the valley, as they
did during my sojoinn on the glacier, the mere
attempt to climb the rocks of Khan-Tengri would
be out of the question. By increasing atmospheric
disturbances, followed by a snowstorm, a premature
end was put to my observations at the foot of
Khan-Tengri, when we had scarcely been able to
take the most indispensable photographic views.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XVIII
OVER THE ACHAILO PASS TO THE KAYNDY GLACIER
From our chief encampment at the end of the
glacier-tongue I made my way a few days later
some eighteen versts down the valley, where
remains of old morainic drift could constantly
be observed, often reaching more than 1,000 ft.
(800 m.) high up the walls of the valley. Shortly
before reaching the old barrier (see p. 68) the
wild Achailo torrent debouches on the left bank
from a narrow, rocky gorge (confluence about
8,600 ft ; 2,800 m.). It is noteworthy, that this
lateral stream is the only one in the middle and
lower course of the Inylchek river, that discharges
at the level of the main valley-bed. All other
lateral valleys have their mouths very high above
the level of the main valley. The deep erosion
is here explained by the copious stream, the steep
fall compared with its short course, and by the
very disturbed and decomposed schists, in which
the valley is cut. Of the two branches of the
head waters, one comes from the east, the other
from the south-east. Both drain considerable
glaciers, which descend from an hitherto unknown
range, sumptuously clothed with glaciers, which
extends, in a direction north-west to south-east,
217
Digitized by LjOOQIC
218 OVER THE ACHAILO PASS
for about eighteen versts between the Inylchek
and Kayndy vallejrs, and presents a great variety
of forms.
This superb mountain range rises on an average
to a height of about 18,000 ft. (4,500 m.), while
its highest peaks exceed 16,000 ft (5,000 m.)
Between it and a parallel limestone range, whose
northern part presents a tj^ical instance of a ridge
in a state of almost accomplished abrasion, there
intervenes a shallow trough, a kind of a high
plateau (Syrt), which has an average breadth of
three versts, having a mean height of about 12,000
ft. (8,600 m.), and is richly carpeted with Alpine
herbage. On its scarcely distinguishable highest
protuberance (about 12;500 ft ; 8,800 m.) lies the
watershed between the Inylchek and the next
parallel valley, the Kayndy,
As already stated, none of the maps show any
of the valleys and moimtain ranges, amid which
my expedition now moved for ten days or more.
As my surveys have not yet been worked up,
I shall for the present confine myself to empha-
sising the more salient features. The above-
mentioned plateau (Syrt) is nothing more than
the floor of an old glacial trough, from which
formerly large glaciers, about 2,500 or 8,000 ft.
(800 or 900 m.) deep, descended on both sides,
one very steeply down to the Inylchek, the other
more gently to the Kayndy valley. This can
still be clearly traced on both sides, but especially
on the Inylchek side, by the course followed by
the old moraines. Rocks entering into the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
HUGE TORS 219
structure of this lofty range, and extending
farther on to the Kayndy valley, are highly
metamorphised schists of very diversified appear-
ances — ^phyllites, semi-crystallised limestones, white
marble, and lastly, diabase. The schists and
the limestones are set at a high angle. In the
first lateral valley, descending from the east,
appear to lie the largest glaciers and to rise the
highest snowy peaks, as may be seen in the ascent
from the north. They assume their grandest forms
in the vicinity of the pass, where at the foot of a
beautiful, bold peak, a morainic lake of considerable
size extends into the green Alpine meadows. On
the descent down the south side are seen huge
"Tors" of diabase, which break through the
i^gg^ masses of the limestones and schists, and
often develop wild jagged crests along the highest
ridges. In none of the Central Tian-Shan valleys,
save in the immediate neighbourhood of Khan-
Tengri, have I seen igneous rocks of such extent
and thickness, as those along the upper course of
the Kayndy. Here the eruptive matter (diabase),
displays very diversified character.
Near its jimction with the Kayndy the trough-
shaped vaUey running southwards from the plateau
contracts to an impassable serrated caiion, confined
between vertical limestone walls. The track there-
fore leads up very steep slopes on the right bank
to a considerable elevation, where the whole
surface is strewn with great quantities of white
marble and contact-schistose blocks. The descent
is quite as steep to the Kayndy valley, which owes
Digitized by LjOOQIC
220 OVER THE ACHAILO PASS
its name to the birch-woods, characteristic of its
lower course. In its upper course, which has a
breadth of from a quarter to half a mile, the
moimds of 4^bris, lying at the foot of the almost
vertical limestone walls on the left bank, are
overgrown with little clumps of pine.
As the axis of the valley frequently follows the
strike of the strata (N. by 40*" E.) the side facing
the dip of the strata has a steep, sometimes per-
pendicular front Nevertheless, the escarpments
of the valley do not present the same imposing
character as those of the Inylchek valley. The
ranges are not so high, and present less diversified
outlines.
From the mouth of the southern Achailo river
we wandered along the left bank of the Kayndy,
over a broad, very gently-inclined, grassy terrace,
some sixteen miles up to the tongue of the
glacier, which stands at a height of about
11,500 ft. (8,250 m.). I was surprised to find no
trace of granite or of other archaean rocks along
the whole way, either in the river drift or in
the morainic beds. From this it may be inferred
that the often-mentioned granite massifs whose
fragments are brought down and deposited on
the Inylchek glacier, was not in this valley,
as I had hitherto supposed. The river consists
of a single channel, and although of considerable
size, is still not nearly so copious, as might be
expected from a glacier of such extent as that
of the Inylchek. Both observations were clear
indications, that the Kajmdy could not be the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KAYNDY VALLEY 221
great longitudinal valley, that I was seeking.
The enclosing waUs are composed of a series of
light and dark limestones, several beds being
exceptionally rich in fossils, which, however, have
been crushed and squeezed by contact with the
diabase. Still some of the collected samples may
perhaps be identified. Diabase of diverse structiu^,
horn slates (Hornschiefer)^ diabasic tuffs, are of
firequent occurrence in the boulder drift, while
higher up the valley, highly metamorphic clay-
schists and sandstones were again met wi^.
Strange to say, no marbles occur in the whole
zone of the glacier. But the stratigraphic relations
are very complicated, and Herr Keidel thought
he recognised scale-structure during his visit to the
middle parts of the valley in the previous year.
For the first quarter of its course the Kayndy
glacier is also covered with a mass of detritus,
though far less extensive and less thick, than
that of the Inylchek glacier. After three or
four miles the ice becomes fi:'ee, and here very
imeven, which, however, is rather the result of
erosion from the running waters, than the effect
of pressure. Farther up the ice is smooth. It
has an average breadth of 2,800—2,600 ft. (700
— 800 m.), with a total length of twelve to thirteen
miles, a very winding form, and a slight incline.
On the left margin several green tarns fill de-
pressions in the ice. Worth mentioning, as a
rare phenomenon in the Tian-Shan, is a lofty
and copious waterfall in the right scarp of the
valley. On the left bank a verdant terrace, over-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
222 OVER THE ACHAILO PASS
grown with cargana-bush, still skirts the ice some
five miles upwards.
As a result of my exploration it became
evident, that the Kayndy glacier extends only
for a short stretch north-eastwards parallel with
the Inylchek glacier ; it is soon closed in by
the already-mentioned spur {vide p. 204), which
branches off below the mouth of the granite-
bearing lateral valley of the Inylchek glacier
from the southern scarp of this valley. The signi-
ficance and trend of this spur, which I had not
clearly understood till now, became clear, and
the absence of granite in the Kayndy valley was
now also explained. The Kayndy valley is tktis
shown to be merely interposed between a much
longer longitudinal valley and the Inylchek basin.
A deep gap in the completely glaciated mountain
wall, enclosing the head of the Kajmdy valley,
might give access to, or at least afford a view of,
this more extensive longitudinal valley confining
the Kajmdy valley. The range forming the
northern scarp of the glacier, is crowned by a
series of fine snowy peaks, which cannot be
seen from the Inylchek, because, as I have already
pointed out, the parting wall there ramifies into
two parallel spurs. On the other hand, one of the
highest of the Inylchek mountains is visible through
a gap from the Kayndy glacier. The southern
scarp of the valley is likewise glaciated to a
considerable extent, but is lower than the northern.
It is here that the Tian-Shan m^Lssif begins to slope
southwards {vide pp. 41, 47, 67), and while the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
vjicw moK A CAP (AfloL'r i^pEwo rr,) between kahakol ahu Titt wk^tean
DAVUmCOL C LAC I EH. tiJsTASCIC AHOUT 7} KILF.3 (SES T, Uo)-
HEAD OF KAYNDY GLACIER.
[To /act p, 232.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
RICH GRAZING GROUNDS 228
northern range forms a mountain mass rarely carved
by a valley, the southern range is cut up by numer-
ous ravines, disposed obliquely to the long axis of
the valley. Several small and two large lateral
glaciers descend through these ravines towards
the main glacier, but none except the two large
ones now reach it. No indications could be dis-
covered of any shrinkage of the glacier in recent
times. But what a poor survival the present
glacier is, when compared with its former extent
is shown by traces, filling the whole valley. For
some stretches the old moraines rise to two-
thirds of the height of the enclosing walls — ^that
is, to 2,000 ft. (600 m.) above the bed of the
valley.
From a point in the enclosing wall on the left
side, some 8,000 ft. (1,000 m.) above the glacier
level, a panoramic view was obtained of the glacier
and of the encircling ranges.
In order to visit the next large parallel valley,
I resumed my wanderings, and made my way
down the valley for twenty-four miles, from the
tongue of the Kayndy glacier. In its middle
course the Kayndy valley is distinguished by a
wealth of rich grazing groimds, pine-groves, and
a very fine and varied flora, such as one does not
expect to meet with in a southern Tian-Shan
valley. Here, too, the intruding diabasic rocks have
variously transformed the schists and limestones
of the cliffs enclosing the valley. About twenty
miles below the end of the glacier, where the
valley contracts to a ravine, it bends sharply
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Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XIX
FROM THE KAYNDY VALLEY OVER THE UCH-SHAT
PLATEAU TO THE KOI-KAF
In the middle course of the valley the range,
skirting the left bank of the Kayndy, appears to
resolve itself into a series of spurs, runnmg north-
west and south-east, and bearing rugged summits,
clothed with abundant glaciers. One of them
displays a remarkably bold form, like a diminutive
Khan-Tengri. Between these ridges a number of
short, high-lying valleys are indentated, all collec-
tively called Kara-bel by the Kirghiz ; only through
the most easterly of these valleys, is it possible to
cross the mountain range towards the south. Be-
tween the deep bed of the middle Kayndy valley in
the north, and the much more deeply excavated
bed of the next parallel valley in the south, there
stretches an almost plateau-like flattened ridge,
covered with Alpine meadows, in the water-parting
range, which forms an extensive depression between
the series of peaks, ranged faither up and down the
valley. The slope of this broad, flat ridge, gently
inclined towards the Kayndy, is disposed in blunt
ribs, divided by level trough-like upland valleys,
which, however, are more deeply excavated where
they approach the edge of the plateau ; this falls
236 15
Digitized by LjOOQIC
226 OVER THE UCHSHAT PLATEAU
in high, steep declivities down to the level of the
main valley. Formerly, when this was filled with
glacier ice, the lateral ice-streams, descending fix)m
the nev^ once covering the plateau with but gentle
incline through these troughs, joined the main
glacier at a great height. The present relief of
this upland region is entirely the -result of glacial
agencies. On the other hand, the far steeper
slopes, facing southwards are intersected by deep,
impassable ravines. Between both slopes there
stretches a broad whale-back, inclined somewhat
towards the south-west In this very gently
sloping flat top is sunk a shallow cauldron, opening
to the south-west, where the waters, converging
in their descent fix)m various directions, are
collected in three channels, which in their turn
unite still farther down in a single course. The
Kirghiz, who find good summer pasture in this
Alpine region, call it Uch-shaU " Three Valleys,"
and the transverse chain of variously shaped,
snow-clad summits a little farther west, they call
Uch-shat-Tau. The main stream, formed by the
three converging rivulets turns south and south-
west, and soon disappears in a "nullah," the
course of which I was unable accurately to deter-
mine. The Kirghiz say it joins the Sary-jass,
here descending from the north.
Thus the flat, truncated ridge about 18,000 ft.
(4,000 m.) high, where the sources of the Uch-shat
river rise, forms the crest of the plateau region, but
this, as has been stated, is the lowest part of the
dividing range between the middle Kayndy and
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE SHEEPSACK 227
the next southern parallel valley. A depression
about 12,800 ft. (8,750 m.) high in this crest is
the Kara-archa pass, so called from the dark
growth of bushy archa (Juniperus sabina) on its
southern slope. This pass alone gives access to
that southern parallel valley, that the Kirghiz call
Koi-kaf—\h2it is to say, "Sheep-sack," "sack"
alluding to the narrow, closed form of the valley,
while Koi (=" sheep"), means that sheep are
driven hither to graze. The Kirghiz, at that
time residing in the Kajmdy valley, told me it
was so long that nobody could get to its end,
and so narrow and so completely filled with rushing
water that it was not passable in summer; that
a very large glacier and much snow stretched
away in the background, where there are very
high mountains. In winter, however, when the
water is very low, the Kirghiz drive their sheep
over the Kara-archa pass down the valley, and
then thirteen miles up in the Koi-kaf valley, which
hitherto ravine-like, broadens out and offers some
poorgrazing-grounds, with the sour steppe herbage
preferred by the sheep. They told me, also, that
owing to its low level and narrow enclosure, as
well as to its position, extending far to the south,
this spot is warm and nearly free from snow — a
good wintering place for the flocks.
Now, it was for us to discover for ourselves,
whether it might not withal be possible for Alpine
climbers to penetrate into this valley, which, from
all that I had seen and heard, must be the large
southern valley I was seeking, running parallel to
Digitized by LjOOQIC
228 OVER THE UCH-SHAT PLATEAU
the Inylchek. By the narrow mouth of the first
Kara-bel valley, cut in between huge cavernous
conglomerate walls, we made our way to a trough-
like expanse, encircled by grass-grown morainic
ridges. These stretch along the foot of an im-
posing, picturesque rocky wall, crowned by glaciers,
where dark diabasic cliffs stand out in the fore-
ground, strongly contrasting with the masses of
light limestones and marble-schists rising behind
them. The route now lay over steep morainic
ground towards the south-east, and over the crest
of a ridge between two parallel troughs, to a pass
(Kara-bel pass) about 11,500 ft. (8,450 m.) high,
then southwards down toward the Uch-shat
as far as the converging point (about 10,500 ft ;
8,250 m.) of the three streamlets, and so up
through the easternmost of the three valleys,
between much disturbed chloritic schists and
sandstones, where we established our chief camp
(about 11,500 ft ; 8,500 m.), on the slope immedi-
ately below the Kara-archa pass. From this point
I crossed the pass (about 12,800 ft ; 8,750 m.), and
by a difficult descent southwards, reached a region
drained by two streams, which unite farther on and
then lose themselves in a deep, narrow gorge. In
order to turn this obstacle, we surmounted two
ridges, about 10,500 ft (8,250 m.) and 11,000 ft.
(8,400 m.), projecting high above the yawning
chasm, and then descended some 2,500 or 8,000 ft.
(800 or 900 m.), by an unusually steep track,
down an escarpment directly to the bottom of
the gorge. Here we traversed for some distance
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE KARAARCHA GORGE 229
a zone of sedimentary rocks — ^limestones, greatly
decomposed, and metamorphosed dark and light
clay-schists with interstratified diabasic schists.
From the pass and from the two ridges we com-
manded partial views of the highlands. Towards
the south and south-east, narrow, deeply cloven
rocky crests, running apparently in wild disorder
close together and but sparsely clad with snow
and ice, are intersected by ravines of enormous
depth. It was difficult to get a clear grasp of
the dominant features in the general reUef of
these crests. We were, however, able at least
to follow the ridge lines of the border-ranges
along the course of the Sary-jass. But the in-
tervening crests were too near our standpoints, and
these were not elevated enough, to afford a view of
the ice-clad regions of the Sabavchy and Kum-
aryk, especially in the then clouded state of the
atmosphere. On the east side, the mountain mass
was cut up in a surprisingly diversified way by
erosion, confined, however, to the formation of
glens and gorges at a high level. The process
of their development seemed to be suddenly
arrested, and they are now mostly dry and even
free from snow, having failed, so to speak, in
their intended vocation.
The Kara-archa gorge, at first from fifty to
sixty-five feet wide, soon contracts to thirty,
and in places even to twelve feet Its bed,
thickly strewn with rock blocks, is swept by
the swirling waters of the Kara-archa torrent.
Vertical white marble walls, 1,800—1,700 ft
Digitized by LjOOQIC
280 OVER THE UCH-SHAT PLATEAU
(400 — 500 m.) high, partly in thick slabs, partly
in schistose beds set at a high angle, enclose
the tortuous defile, in whose dim light could
be seen the most magnificent dome-shaped
hollows scooped by the water. Most amazing
bendings, twistings, and burstings are shown
in the strata of these steep ramparts. More-
over, the extraordinary extent of the weather-
ing and destruction often gave the impression
that the masses, now hanging loosely together,
might topple over at any moment. Nevertheless,
the remains of a ruined vault may be recognised
from the strike of the strata and the angles of
incidence. Beds of conglomerate, whose material
consists exclusively of white marble fragments,
bound together by white cement, extend some
height up the rocky walls, and numerous huge
blocks of such conglomerates often obstruct the
way in the bed of the stream, while others, already
loosened, threaten to tumble down. Morainic drift
is also found in the gorge, deposited on ledges along
the marble walls. Beside the conglomerates, the
material in the river-bed consists nearly exclusively
of white marble and green phyllite. During my
long wanderings in mountam regions I have
scarcely anywhere seen more chaotic forms than
in this ravine, which are all the more remarkable
from the material, of which the mountains are here
built up. It is interesting to note that, at an
average height of 500 ft (150 hl) above the pre-
sent bed of the gorge, blocks of loose conglomerate
are still preserved on small terraces of the steep
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A GEOLOGICAL PICTURE 281
ramparts, and thus show the former level of the
Kara-areha stream. By this difficult route we
were led some two and a half miles (four versts)
through the eafion. A little beyond its southern
outlet a remarkable geological picture was pre-
sented — thick beds, alternating with slabs, both of
very dense unfossiliferous limestone, the core of
a womdown fold, whose strike (N. by 50° W.)
is completely enclosed by the system of the far
more vertically disposed, marble-like limestones
and schists, which strike N. by 60'' E. I have
fixed the remarkable site by a photograph, and
was able to follow this old fold farther on in the
rocky walls running north-west and south-east.
The cation, in its roughly southern course,
broadens into a valley from 260 to 800 ft. wide,
and is encircled by bare, rugged walls of brown
limestone, 8,600 — 4,000 ft. (1,100 — 1,200 m.)
high. After a short course it is shut in by a still
more elevated precipitous, rocky mountain range,
striking from north-east to south-west across tiie
axis of the Kara-archa. The traveller hears a
mighty roar of swirling waters, but does not see the
stream, rushing in a deeply excavated bed along
the very foot of the steep, rocky barrier, until he
has approached close to the brink. This is the
longitudinal gorge of the Koi-kaf, which is joined
on its right bank by the transverse cleft of the
Kara-archa. No doubt a volume of water, such
as is discharged through this fluvial bed, can
owe its existence, in a region of such slight
precipitation, only to some very extensive and
Digitized by LjOOQIC
282 OVER THE UCHSHAT PLATEAU
lofty glacier region. But in the winding gorge,
some sixty-five feet (twenty metres) wide, through
which the river rushes along, one could see only
a little way up or down stream, the distant view
being blocked by steep rocky walls.
I had our little mountain tent now set up on
a small terrace (about 7»000 ft. ; 2,150 m.) near
the confluence of the Kara-archa. In its com-
plete seclusion — a kind of a cirque, enclosed
on all sides by wild, overhanging rocky cliffs —
the site was highly romantic, but appallingly
desolate: loose loess soil, much boulder drift,
mounds of waste, fluvio-glacial debris, a chaos
of blocks in the river-bed, running waters on
both sides, the only growth the stunted scrubby
vegetation of the southern deserts and stony
steppes 1 For the copious streams, here rushing
by, leave no fertilising effects behind; the
ground remains dry, dusty, parched. Seldom have
I seen in the mountains a more arid valley. The
air was dank, oppressively sultry, the worry intense
from stinging gnats. Gusts of wind, coming at
times fix>m the gorge, as fix>m a blast-Aimace,
enveloped us in clouds of loess dust Our stay
in such a place was extremely unpleasant, especially
at night, with its stifling, heavy atmosphere and
tormenting, winged pests, fix>m which there was
no escape. The sky was veiled, owing to fine loess-
particles, whirled aloft; and floating in the air;
one could hardly distinguish the lofty crest-lines of
the rugged walls. These unfavourable conditions
hastened our operations. We forced our way up
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A VEILED REGION 288
the river-gorge alongside its seething water, but
ajfter four versts of strenuous efforts found the
way blocked by the impassable current, running
close under the winding rocky walls. We tried
to overcome the obstacle by forcing a passage high
up on the cUffs; but here the gorge describes
such narrow windings, that we soon found ourselves
again barred by a like obstacle at a bluff surrounded
by water. Moreover, all clambering over the
smooth marble cliffs soon became impossible. And
when the eye followed the sharp bends described
by the crests of the enclosing ramparts, it was
soon seen that this serpentine course was con-
tinued very far up the valley; the undertaking
had therefore to be abandoned as hopeless.
The Kirghiz were right after all; nevertheless,
I decided, in order to get a view of the upper
course of the valley, to climb a high eminence in
the steep enclosing walls. From such an eleva-
tion, from which in any case the snowy ranges
of the Kiun-aryk and Sabavchy region would
be visible, it would doubtless be possible to ascer-
tain the relation of the Koi-kaf to those valleys.
But this also proved useless, as the atmosphere
had grown so much thicker, that even the
nearest crests were almost veiled in mist. Owing
to the fine loess dust, constantly rising, the air
is probably here generally hazy ; but now, a heavy
barometric pressure having set in, there was
added a vapoury cloud, which prevented me from
getting a view of that most mysterious region
of the Tian-Shan.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
284 OVER THE UCH-SHAT PLATEAU
With a heavy heart I decided to return from
this inhospitable region. I should have willingly
endured the discomforts of a few days' further
stay in that desolate region, if I could have
hoped for any satisfactory results. But the
weather forecast was too unfavourable.
As it was, I could not have been very far from
the opening of the Kum-aryk valley on to the
southern plain, since I now stood only about
1,800 ft. (400 m.) above its level. One could also
perceive from the contours of the lofty crests,
that those valleys, which I had visited some
months ago, could not be far off. Had it been
possible to descend by the ravine, the mouth of
the Kum-aryk could easily have been reached in
a single day, however intricate might be the
windings of the gorge. The Kirghiz were able to
assure me, that the waters of the imited streams
turn several times sharply to the west, and again
suddenly to the east, thus often flowing towards
each other in narrow curves. This they knew
of old, though none of them had yet traversed
the narrows. The question uppermost in my
mind was whether the Koi-kaf might be identical
with the longitudinal Ak-su valley of the forty-
verst map {vide p. 157). Were this not the case,
then the Ak-su could only be the next parallel
southern valley.
From the character of all these valleys, which,
south of the Kajmdy, are mere cafions, and from the
carving of the mountain masses, which is limited
to their upper parts, a point I have already referred
Digitized by LjOOQIC
GRANITE MASSES 285
to {vide p. 229), it follows that the formation of
real valleys in this part of the Central Tian-Shan
has been prevented by the intervening and rapidly
increasing dryness of the climate. There is
nothing to wash down the sides of the valley, while
the discharge from the great glaciers, descending
rapidly by the main channels, excavates their beds
deeper and deeper, and the form of the caflon is
no longer eroded laterally to the profile of a real
valley.
At the very first glance at the bed of the Koi-
kaf river I noticed a pretty considerable quantity
of granite, and that, too, of the same kind as is
fomid in the moraine on the left side of the
Inylchek glacier. This was a ftirther proof, that
the granite massif, which supplies its moraine
material to the Inylchek through a lateral valley,
connecting both, must appear also in the Koi-kaf
valley, and hence this must be the great channel,
which stretches parallel to the Inylchek far to
the east. As, however, the central main range,
which undoubtedly likewise encloses the head of the
Koi-kaf, is formed, as proved beyond question, of
sedimentary rocks, and as the lower and middle
course of the Koi-kaf valley is likewise enclosed
by like materials, the granite would appear to occur
in this valley in the form of a " stock."
Possibly these granite masses may also be
connected in some way with those, observed in
the Sabavchy valley. But from all my researches
it results that the Koi-kaf must be the large
longitudinal valley I had been in search off which^
Digitized by LjOOQIC
2M OVER THE UCHSHAT PLATEAU
bending round the Kayndy valky^ acquires in its
upper course a considerabk breadth^ and there
contains a glacier, which must be about as extensive
as that of the Inylchek.
From all the observations made, both on the
ncNTth and the south side, I must also conclude
that the southern bounding range of this large
longitudinal vaUey is also connected at or some-
where near the Peak Nicholas Mikhailovich with
the main range. Unfortunately, the un&vourable
c<Hiditions prevented me from acquiring greater
certainty on the structure of this part of the
Central Tian-Shan, and a gap consequently still
remains in my knowledge of the actual relations.
On our return to the chief camp in the Uch-
shat valley, fierce snowstorms set in and also
accompanied us on our return to the Kajrndy
valley, which was now surveyed for another
stretch of about ten miles (fifteen versts) to
its junction with the Sary-jass. On this route,
as well as diuing our course through the
Sary-jass valley up to the confluence of the
Inylchek and throughout the entire length of
this valley up to the Tys-ashu pass, our observa-
tions were unfortunately greatly impaired by the
cloudy weather and by the thick mantle of fresh
snow shrouding the heights.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XX
THROUGH THE KAYNDY VALLEY TO THE SARY-JASS
AND INYLCHEK AND BACK TO THE TEKES.
The ranges skirting the Kayndy valley fall
gradually towards the channel of the Sary-jass,
which intersects them transversely. Nevertheless,
the architecture of their crests presents a rugged
aspect and is serrated by deep gaps. The remark-
'able tendency of the southern border-range to
resolve itself into transverse ridges, running north-
west and south-east, already mentioned (p. 228, 225),
which is in sharp contrast to the generally ruling
direction of strike, could here also be observed.
For some distance the valley is blocked by vast
accumulated masses of fluvio-glacial drift, through
which the river cuts its way in a narrow gorge.
Farther down the valley these masses of drift take
the form of long terraces. Here the evidences
of the ice age are specially conspicuous. Granite
blocks of enormous size rest on the top of these
terraces, though granite does not enter in the
structure of the surrounding walls. Green, grau-
wacke-like sandstones, limestones, and phyllitic
schists form the encircling walls, along which are
deposited great quantities of conglomerates on
both sides of the valley.
237
Digitized by LjOOQIC
288 TO THE SARY JASS AND IXYLCHEK
Where the Saiy-jass is joined by the Kayndy,
the bed of this river not being foidable, the way-
£uer is compelled to scale the steep scarp of the
left bank, here about 400 ft. (120 m.) high. It pro-
jects like a headland in the angle, formed by the
jmiction of the tributary with the main stream, a
fine prospect of which is commanded from these
heights. Facing northwards, we first behold the
sinuous contours of the crests of the Kulu-Tau,
and Sary-jass-Tau, between which the stream in
its norih to south course winds along in an inac-
cessible gorge until it breaks out into a wide open
valley a little above the confluence of the Inylchek.
The valley now assumes a general south-south-west
trend, and has an average breadth of a mile, and
a mile and a quarter at its widest part After a
course of about ten and a half miles (sixteen
versts), it again turns south and even south-south-
east, and once more contracts to a narrow gorge
as it forces its way through the Ishigart-Tau range.
Here the stream again disappears between the
projecting and retreating angles of the shifting
mountain curtains. It does not reappear until it
once more breaks through the narrows as the
Kum-aryk, on the southern slope of the Tian-Shan
{vide p. 148).
On its open course the main stream is joined
from the east by the Kajmdy (confluence about
7,900 ft. ; 2,400 m.), and eight miles (twelve versts)
farther up by the Inylchek (confluence 8,500 ft. ;
2,600 m.). On the west side it is joined, nearly
at the same level as the Kayndy, by the Uch-
Digitized by VjOOQIC
LONGITUDINAL TERRACES 289
kul,^ which also flows from a longitudinal valley,
in its upper course called Yir-tash, on the source
of which I have reported, p. 178, and two miles
(three versts) below the confluence of the Inylchek
by the Terek-ty. This river likewise discharges
from a longitudinal valley, but, despite its im-
portance, is, strange to say, entered in none of
the maps.
The enclosing waUs of the Sary-jass valley, as
long as its course is open, consist on both sides
of walls only about 2,000 ft. (600 m.) high,
the ranges through which the river here cuts
transversely being much depressed towards the
channel. They consist of black, slabby, dense and
unfossiliferous limestones, which have a N. by
20° E. strike, falling to 40° S.E., and on both
banks show the same stratigraphic relations.
On the right bank at the foot of these ram-
parts are three excellently preserved longitudinal
terraces, developed in the masses of drift about
180 or 160 ft. one above the other, and all of
considerable breadth with perfectly level surfaces.
On the left side, on the contrary, the river
approaches very near to the mountain side, and
flows between the steep scarp of the lowest
terrace of the right side, and the equally steep
slope of the terrace (about 160 ft. high) which
' The lower conrse of this river^ eastward of the confluence of its
tributary Orto-uch-kul^ joining from norths is called Uch-kul. West of
this confluence^ it bears the name Yir-tash. This I was informed by
the Khirgiz^ sojourning in the Kyandy valley^ opposite the mouth of
Uch-kul^ and also by those^ camping on the Syrt plateau close to the
bead waters of Yir-tash.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
240 TO THE SARYJASS AND INYLCHEK
extends only as a narrow belt along the rocky
wall of the left bank. Here the river occupies
a bed some 280 ft. (70 m.) wide, which — at
least, when I traversed the valley — ^was completely
flooded by the stream. This narrow terrace soon
disappears altogether, and in order to reach the
mouth of the Inylchek we had to pass along narrow
ledges of the rocky wall some 500 ft. (150 m.)
above the foaming torrent. Here, on narrow pro-
jecting terraces and cornices of the limestone cliffs,
I saw the remains of boulder drift containing large
blocks of granite, and on other still more elevated
ledges and recesses I observed stratified beds of
gravel and sand sixteen inches (forty centimetres)
thick, well preserved indications of the changes
of level that have here taken place.
In the Mitteilungen of the Imp. Royal
Geograph. Soc. of Vienna, vol. xlix. 1901, Dr.
G. von Almassy has suggested the possibility,
that the waters of the Sary-jass, at that time pent
up as a large lake, may have formerly flowed
over the watershed of the Mjm-tjrr-Syrt away to
the north, and were only later deflected to their
southern course, when the northern outlet was
made impossible by upheavals. Here I will not
discuss the question of the former existence of a
lake, having the compass assigned to it by Dr.
von Almassy; nor will I positively deny the
possibility of the northern outflow being shifted,
for instance, by ice, or accumulated deposits of
drift. It must, however, be pointed out, that the
profile of the Kok-jar valley does not at all
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE PRESENT CHANNEL 241
suggest that at one time such a potent volume
of water, as would accord with the size of the
former Sary-jass, was really discharged through
this channel And we should still have to ask, if
the present channel of Sary-jass at that time did
not exist, what was the course then taken by
the large affluents of the Sary-jass — Inylchek,
Kajmdy, Koi-kaf, etc. — of which the Inylchek alone
is more copious than the main stream ? West-
wards to the Naryn basin ? Considering the con-
formation and relief of the local mountain system,
such an outlet is scarcely conceivable. Besides,
what could have caused these rivers to be deflected
altogether fix)m their east to west to an almost
southerly course? Lastly, we should have to
consider the weighty circumstance that the moun-
tain ranges, which flank the east and west tributaries
of the Sary-jass along their course, all slope quite
gradually, but still very considerably, towards the
furrow of this river {vide pp. 287, 289), while no great
significance can be attached to the presence of a
lofty summit, rising at the east end of the Kulu-
Tau. So much for the present on this interesting
question, to which I shall return in the detailed
report.
The section jfrom the confluence of the Inylchek
to the Tys-ashu pass is about forty-two miles
(sixty-three versts) long, so that we may estimate
the length of the whole valley up to the head
of the glacier at some ninety miles (185 versts), in-
cluding the windings. In the lower course the
average breadth of the valley is one mile, but here
16
Digitized by LjOOQIC
242 TO THE SARY-JASS AND INYLCHEK
basin-shaped expanses, up to a width of two miles
(three versts), alternate with' contracted beds no
more than 650 ft. (200 m.) or even 500 ft.
(150 m.) wide at the ah'eady-described ancient
barrier {vide p. 68) — the last remains of the lime-
stone cliffs, which represent the remnants of the
coUapsed over-arching strata, not yet swept away
by the current. The incline is extremely gentle,
scarcely more than thirty-five feet per mile
(six metres per verst), and the ranges skirting
the lower course have decreased very consider-
ably in height. Nor, in the region of theu*
crests, do they any longer show any special
developments or varied contours. The formation
of summits is reduced to broad, dome-like pro-
minences of the plateau-shaped surface, and
glaciation is now slight. While the chain on the
south bank is much diversified by little upland
glens, whose openings stand high above the present
level of the valley, the northern range presents
an almost continuous rampart From the ob-
servations I have already adduc^, it appears that
in all these longitudinal valleys trending east and
west, the same phenomenon is repeated : The
northern slope, with its abundant snow and water,
is greatly eroded; the slope facing south is dry,
and to no appreciable extent ravined. The valley
exhibits in general a steppe vegetation, though the
herbage is abundant and in places very rich, while
along the rocky walls of the southern range
excellent Alpine meadows of great extent alternate
with considerable stretches of pine forest. In the
Digitized by LjOOQIC
A GRAND MOUNTAINCHAIN 248
lower valley also the old moraines have acquired
a very important development They reach very
high up the sides of the valley ; on their flat tops
enormous blocks of granite, diabase, limestone and
marble have been deposited. Here the constituent
elements of the ranges are semi-crystalline lime-
stones, sandstones, porphjrries and highly meta-
morphosed schists of very diversified types. The
results of marked lateral pressure are constantly
observable in the series. Of old igneous rocks I
was certainly able to notice granite and syenite in
some places along the middle course of the valley,
but as abeady stated {vide p. 286), my observations
were impeded by the cloudy weather and the thick
mantle of fi'esh snow on the heights.
The great glacier was ah-eady veiled beneath a
uniform covering of snow. Still, near the Tys-ashu
pass I had the good luck to discover a coralliferous
bed. I selected this pass also for the return, because
it presents the shortest way to the northern slope.
For the last time, he weather clearing up, I enjoyed
from the summit M the pass the view of one of
the grandest ranges in the world — an unbroken
chain, over fifty miles (seventy-five versts) long,
of wonderfully glaciated peaks, rising in solenm
majesty with hard, steel-like contours into the
cold, clear autunm air of the parting day..
The summer was drawing to a close, and renewed
snowstorms might any day put a stop to my
researches in the high regions. The Tys-ashu
valley and its surroundings abeady (September
12th) lay shrouded in a continuous sheet of snow
Digitized by LjOOQIC
244 TO THE SARY-JASS AND INYLCHEK
sixteen inches (forty centimetres) thick. In the
Sary-jass valley only the lower part of the southern
slopes was still free from snow. Crossing by
the Myn-tjrr pass, the upper Kok-jar valley
(Kuberganty), the Kapkak pass, and traversing
the like-named valley, I again reached the Tekes
valley. Great was my siu^rise and satisfaction
to find here and in the transverse valleys,
branching from the Tekes into the highlands,
even the high groimds still free from snow, as
well as a general temperature much higher than
on the south side.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XXI
TO THE BAYUMKOL AGAIN AND THEN TO THE
LITTLE MUSART VALLEY
At once seizing the opportunity, I, for the third
time, visited the Bayumkol, my object now being
to replace the valuable photographic views, which
had been lost the previous year in the waters
of the Musart river. The work was effected
without disturbance. From a summit about
14,400 ft. (4,400 m.) high at the northern edge
of the western glacier, as well as from a crag
15,000 ft. (4,600 m.) high on the northern
edge of the eastern glacier — clear autumn skies
having succeeded a few stormy days — we were
able to take a series of important telephotographic
views, besides several panoramic ones, shedding
light on the ramifications of the central crests,
radiating from Mount Nicholas Mikhailovich.
Special interest was presented by the view from
the heights reached by me, showing the superb
head of the Little Musart or Saikal valley, com-
pletely buried in nevd and ice. But it was seen
to be indispensable to traverse this valley, in order
to verify its hitherto assumed connection with
the main watershed. The scanty representations
given on the forty- verst map in respect of this
245
Digitized by LjOOQIC
246 TO THE LITTLE MUSART VALLEY
and the neighbouring valleys stand in too violent
antagonism to everything, that I had hitherto seen.
Hence, the next task, that I proposed to myself,
was a survey of this large transverse valley, which
had not yet been visited by any explorer.
The entrance to the Little Musart valley was
reached fix)m the Narynkol Staniza (Okhotnichi)
by a south-eastern route, six to six and a half
miles (nine or ten versts) long, across the rich,
grassy steppe of the Tekes plain. The river fed
by the glaciers of the valley is One of the most
copious mountain streams on the north side. It
is difficult, at times impossible, to cross. It differs
from many other Tian-Shan rivers in that, all the
way up to its upper course there are no branches,
but only a single artery everywhere. Large
quantities of drift have been discharged fit>m
the wide opening of its valley, about 6,900 ft.
(2,100 m.) high, far into the Tekes plain, where
they are disposed in thick terraces on both sides
of the valley-mouth. In the valley itself they
form a flight of three verdant steps, running for
some distance parallel with the river-bank. Along
the lower course the escarpments of the valley
are formed of limestones, which are pierced by a
porphyry zone one and a quarter miles wide.
Owing to the extensive mantle of morainic
detritus, overlying the escarpments, a large
section of the vaUey presents for the most part
soft, rounded forms. Excellent Alpine pastures,
favourite wintering places of the Kalmuks, alter-
nate with extensive stretches of dense pine-forest,
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THE VALLEY FORKS 247
often interspersed with leafy growths (mountain-
ashes, willows, etc.). The general aspect is almost
that of a fine northern Alpine valley.
Four and a half miles (seven versts) above its
mouth the valley forks into two branches, — one,
called the Uertenty, running south-south-east and
south-east ; the other, the Saikal, stretching south-
wards. To judge from the volume of water
discha^ed by the two streams, the Saikal basin
contains the more extensive glaciers. The level
of the Uertenty valley lies at the forking, 180 ft.
(40 m.) higher than that of the Saikal, here
about 7,200 ft. (2,200 m.) high, down to which it
falls abruptly. The lower course of the Uertenty
has a ravine-like form, is densely timbered, and of
difficult access. In its middle course the valley
broadens out considerably, the bottom and slopes
clothed with Alpine meadows ; it there receives
numerous affluents, which, in the cirque-like basins
at their sources, harbour small glaciers, while the
main valley, with a total length of about twenty-
six and a half miles (forty versts), is filled for the
last quarter of its course by a glacier about six and
a half miles (ten versts) long. This is nourished
by the nev^ of an already described (vide p. 15)
plateau-like secluded mountain mass, encircled by
lofty, many-peaked ranges, which stretches as a
water-shed in the angle between the heads of the
Saikal valley, of the Mukur-mutu valleys, and of
the Dondukol valley, the largest affluent of the
Great Musart river {vide pp. 88, 85). In this region,
which once was in its whole extent covered by
Digitized by LjOOQIC
248 TO THE LITTLE MUSART VALLEY
ice, erosion has not carried the process of valley-
carving very far, only high-l)dng valleys being
excavated. Towards its head the highest glaciated
trough of the Uertenty valley connects with that
of the east branch of the Saikal vaUey, of which
more anon.
A little beyond the forking the Saikal contracts
to a ravine, averaging a hundred feet (thirty
metres), and in places not more than thirty feet
(ten metres), in width. Here the steep limestone
walls are occupied to a great height by many
thousands of dead pine-trees, the result of a forest
fire. Great numbers have fallen down, thus further
obstructing the copious current in the narrows,
where it was already impeded by large boulders.
Hence this caflon, fix)m three to four miles (five to
six versts) long, is very difficult to traverse, and
quite impassable in spring and summer, as at these
seasons the narrow channel is flooded house-high
by the melting snows. In this deep gorge the
air is stagnant, oppressive, and the decaying, ex-
uberant vegetation, growing in all the cavities and
on the ledges of the cliffs produces a stifling
atmosphere. At the upper outlet of the gorge the
valley gradually broadens out to a considerable
extent. A picturesque aspect is there imparted
to the valley by the extensive old morainic deposits
of the main stream, with those carried down by
the numerous lateral rivers, all much intersected by
erosion channels and carpeted with beautiftil Alpine
meadows, dense pine-woods of great extent, and
a quite luxuriant bush vegetation. The lateral
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE HIGH SAIKAL PASS 249
valleys are for the most part narrow glens, which,
farther back, expand to glacier-filled cirques.
Limestone still forms the enclosing ramparts,
which, in the parting- wall between the Saikal and
the Bayumkol, assume the form of an abrupt
serrated crest, set with small glaciers. This wall
is pierced about sixteen miles (twenty-five versts)
above the forking of the river by a broad, glacier-
bearing valley, at whose head a high pass leads to
the Alai-aigyr, an affluent of the Bayumkol which
has already been referred to (p. 27). From this
point gneiss begins to form the escarpments of the
valley and reaches nearly to its head, often passing
into granite, and this again into gneiss. Owing
to the but slightly inclined bedding of the gneiss
(averaging about 40*^), the contour lines of the crests
seldom exhibit rugged forms or deep indentations.
Some twenty miles (thirty versts) beyond the
forking of the valley, it is joined on the
(orographical) right side by the most copious and
important of its affluents, which, in its many-
branched course of about thirteen miles (twenty
versts), leads to the high Saikal pass, giving access
to the Uertenty valley. At the confluence of that
lateral valley its old moraine drifts have been
heaped up on an earlier terminal moraine deposited
by the retreating glacier of the main valley.
Behind this elevated barrage the waters of the
Saikal were once damned up into a large lake a
mile wide. The (orographical) left side of this
basin is joined by a steep glaciated valley, some
ten miles (fifteen versts) long, which ramifies at
Digitized by LjOOQIC
250 TO THE LITTLE MUSART VALLEY
its head into two branches, one coming from the
south, the other fit)m the south-west. One of
these has its source on the nev^ saddle of the
eastern Ba3rumkol glacier, where our high camp
had stood the previous year, while the other
takes its rise in a glacier basin, lying to the
north of it.
Towards its head the Saikal valley, altogether
about thirty miles (forty-five versts) long, is
divided by old terminal moraine walls, piled up
by the periodically retreating glacier, into several
round level tracks, on whose gravelly flats the
river, hitherto confined to a single bed, now
ramifies. The clumps of pines, standing on the
old moraines, which rise in terraces one behind
the other, contrast sharply with the dazzling white
of the completely ice-clad cliffs, which here enclose
a broad cirque and apparently form the head
of the valley. At the foot of these imusually
torn and tossed ice- walls, rising into superb peaks
some 8,200 ft. (2,500 m.) above the valley
level (itself about 10,000 ft.; 8,000 m.), the
picturesquely crevassed glacier, completely free of
debris, bursts out like a cataract and, aft^r a short
course down the valley, ends at the altitude of
9,700 ft. (2,950 m.) in a terminal ice wall 160 ft.
(50 m.) high. The glacier tongue is fringed on
the left by a dark belt of scrubby vegetation.
Not till he approaches the wall on the (orographic)
right bank, does the observer perceive that the
valley again bends round to the east-south-east,
and that the glaciated walls, which really enclose
Digitized by LjOOQIC
AN OBLONG BASIN 251
the head of the valley, and are similar to, but
1,800 or 1,600 ft. (400 or 500 m.) lower than,
those just described, lie some miles farther on in
that direction. In order to reach this uppermost
cirque a barrier of old morainic boulders, about a
quarter of a mile broad, has to be surmounted.
Then, by a steep descent, we reach an oblong
basin which is from 2,000 to 2,800 ft. (600—700 m.)
long, and 1,800 to 1,600 ft. (400—500 m.) broad,
being enclosed on three sides by glaciated walls,
and on the fourth blocked by the above-mentioned
morainic deposit. Through this barrier the river
cuts its way in a narrow canon, beyond which
it ramifies over a tract perfectly levelled by the
fine limestone and schistose drift deposited on it.
Here, also, the ramparts, enclosing the head of the
valley are composed of limestone, marble, and dark
clay-schists; they do not belong to the main
central range, but to a chain running parallel with
it, which forms the northern wall of the large
glacial valley, that stretches fix)m Mount Nicholas
Mikhailovich towards the Musart pass, and was
discovered by us the year before (vide p. 82 et seq.).
At its east end the above-described basin is
joined at the level of the valley (about 10,000 ft. ;
8,100 m.) by the tongue of a large glacier, which
emerges from a breach in the ramparts, and fills
the bed of a rather narrow valley, about thirteen
miles (twenty versts) long, coming from the east-
south-east It has its source on the same elevated
plateau-like mountain mass as the Uertenty valley,
encircles in its bending course the uppermost
Digitized by LjOOQIC
252 TO THE LITTLE MUSART VALLEY
nev^ basin of this valley, and at its head joins
that of the Dondukol valley. From the plateau
several smaller glaciers descend at steep angles
between snowy peaks to the main glacier.
The Uertenty valley itself intersects another high
valley, the Maralty, which, traversing the above-
mentioned plateau latitudinally, debouches in the
Dondukol {vide p. 17). If that long glacier really
be regarded as a branch, or as the highest source,
of the Saikal, for its waters are drained by this
stream, then the Saikal valley will have a total
length of about forty-three miles (sixty-five versts).
The existence of such extensive glaciers in this
part of the Tian-Shan was hitherto unknown.
The elucidation of these intricate orographic
relations could not, of course, be effected merely by
traversing the Saikal valley. Not imtil we had
scaled a snowy peak 14,800 ft. (4,500 m.) high, in
the dividing wall between Saikal and Uertenty, was
I able to get a clear insight into the relief of this
section of the highlands, but here I succeeded in
completing the observations, made from the heights
in the eastern Bayumkol and in the Mukur-mutu
district. As on the first ascent of the peak the at-
mosphere became murky, it had to be repeated two
days later. Telephotographic views, obtained from
this eminence supplied soUd materials for these
observations. The photographs, already taken from
the Bayumkol valley eastwards, are now supple-
mented by the panoramic photographs, looking
westwards from the Saikal peak. As these opera-
tions were later continued eastwards from elevated
Digitized by LjOOQIC
PANORAMAS 258
standpoints at the head of the Mukur-mutu and
of the Dondukol valleys, I have secured, for the
whole tract from the Sary-jass to the Great
Musart valley, an unbroken series of panoramas,
representing the central highlands, and verifying
each other. These will form an excellent com-
plement to the topographical work, in which the
details were obtained by photogranmfietry. Added
to aU this are the special panoramas of the great
mountain ranges, extending from the Sary-jass
southwards to the Kayndy valley.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XXII
VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES
As I had been informed, that an Alpme lake^—
such a rare phenomenon in the Central Tian-Shan
— lay on the heights in the western scarp of the
Saikal valley, I sought out this lake on our return.
Shortly before the Saikal river enters its gorge-
like narrows, a steep ascent of 500 ft (150 m.)
to the west is made over the mountain slope
covered with morainic debris, now overgrown with
scrub and trees. Thus the heaped-up masses of
erratic blocks of an old terminal moraine are
reached, which cut off a lateral valley a quarter
of a imle wide, running east to west.
Beyond this barrier, in a deep rocky bed, —
owing its origin in part to glacial corrasion — ^Ues a
deep green mountain tarn, from 1,600 to 2,000 ft.
(500 — 600 m.) long by 1,500 fL (850 m.) broad,
at an altitude of about 8,000 ft. (2,450 m.).
By the Kalmuks it is called Nura-nor, and by
the Kirghiz Kara-koL The lacustrine basin is
enclosed on the south by a steep mountain wall,
overgrown far up with dense dark pine-woods,
and on the north side by a similar rampart, but
crowned with Alpine meadows and falling with
254
Digitized by CjOOQIC
AN ALPINE PICTURE 255
a steep rocky declivity (phyllites), some 200 ft.
(60 m.) high, down to the water's edge.
In the west a gully slopes steeply four mUes
up to the dividing ridge, beyond which lies the
Narynkol valley. Through this gully a copious,
limpid mountain stream flows between wooded
and densely copse-clad banks, tumbling over little
caseades down to the lake. Snowy, rocky emi-
nences rise above the encircling ramparts on this
side, and beyond the narrow glen of the Saikal
river, and are mirrored in the deep-green waters
of the lakelet.
It is a somewhat stem, but thoroughly Alpine
lacustrine picture, such as is amongst the rarest
spectacles to be seen in the Tian-Shan highlands.
Through the upland valley, now watered by the
streamlet, there formerly descended the glacier,
which corraded the lacustrine basin in the easily
destructible phyllitic strata, and in its retreat
heaped up the moraine wall, after the retreat of
the large glacier which once filled the Saikal
valley, and which was formerly joined by this
lateral glacier. The lake has no visible outlet ;
but the copious springs, welling up farther down
in the bed of the Saikal valley, may probably
be fed by its underground discharge. While
the shores of the lake are elsewhere steep and
rocky, the affluent has developed, on the west side,
a smaU, flat, sandy delta. The high-water marks
on the rocky banks stand about eight feet above
the surface. That these marks only indicate the
high-water level in spring, when the inflow is
Digitized by LjOOQIC
256 VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES
greater than the outflow, is shown by the traces
of the rippUngs in the loose sand of the western
margin, which stand at the same level and had
not yet been obliterated. Hence the lake would
appear not to have yet entered on its period
of shrinkage. Surmounting the steep slope on
the north side, which is clothed with a growth
of unusually tall and dense grasses greatly im-
peding the passage, I climbed up a steep ridge,
10,500 ft. (8,200 m.) high. Here I enjoyed an
instructive prospect of the ranges, skirting the
Little Musart vaUey. Just facing me towards the
south was the lofty, fine snowpeak, which towers
above the dividing ridges between the Nar3mkol
and Ba3rumkol valleys, and, greatly overtopping
its siuToundings, serves by its bold formation as
the landmark of our Narynkol station.
The altitude of the ridge I ascended coincides
with the upper limit of the pine- woods on all the
neighbouring mountain slopes. Proceeding north-
eastwards a little beneath and along the crest of
the range, and then descending a steep incline, I
reached the well- wooded Buraty valley, which joins
the Little Musart much farther down, and so from
thence got back to the Narynkol station.
Meanwhile, I received information of the
existence of three other mountain lakes, which,
as I was told, lay between the middle Bayumkol
and the Kapkak valleys. Such flooded basins,
which were formerly so very numerous, but have
now become so rare, in the Tian-Shan, present
peculiar interest in respect of the history both of
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE MIDDLE BA YUMKOL VALLEY 257
glaciation and of valley formation in the Tian-
Shan, the two phenomena, to which I had paid
special attention dming this expedition. I was,
therefore, now induced to visit these upland lakes
also, and by their means to examine whether the
inferences, drawn from my previous observations,
were vahd.
The middle Bayumkol valley, where it changes
its southern for an east-south-eastern course, and
a little before its second great basin-shaped en-
largement, receives on its (orographical) left bank
the copious Ak-kul stream, whose valley at the
confluence is about 800 feet wide and densely
wooded to a great height by pine-trees. Fluvio-
glacial drift-beds extend from its mouth into the
main valley in the shape of terraces, which also
follow the course of the stream for some miles
up its valley. This runs at first south-east, then
south and south-west, though the trend of the
main axis is south-south-west, following the strike
of the granites, which form escarpments along the
whole length of the valley (thirteen miles ; twenty
versts). At the entrance of the valley the granite
is stratified and greatly dislocated. After two
and a half miles (four versts) the valley begins
to contract, and after three and a quarter miles
(five versts) has a width of only 160 ft. (50 m.)
Here I established my camp in the middle of an
extremely dense pine- wood (8,500 ft. ; 2,600 m.),
and ascended the valley, near the head of which
stands Lake Ak-kul. The bed of the river slopes
rapidly, and both banks, throughout the whole
17
Digitized by LjOOQIC
258 VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES
length of its course, abound in copious springs, more
numerous than I had yet noticed in any Tian-Shan
valley. To these springs, rising in the dislocated
granites and not to the overflow from the lake, the
river is indebted for its great volume of water.
The granite escarpments are covered up to a con-
siderable height with drift, on which flourish much
timber, brush, and rich Alpine grass. Glacial
polishing may be observed high up the rocky
escarpments. Where the valley again acquires a
considerable expansion it is blocked across its entire
breadth by an enormous wall of morainic blocks,
whose level top coincides with the limit of forest
vegetation (about 10,000 ft; 8,000 m.). Beyond
this barrier the bed of the valley is but slightly
inclined. Here the traveller passes continually
over groimd strewn with drift;, between old verdant
lateral moraines, and reaches the swampy green
floors of basin-shaped expanses, which were
formerly filled by Alpine lakes. The profile of
the valley and the relief of the deposits on its bed
are typical of a valley, shaped by glacial agency.
Of the moraine ridges, which lie between the
several lacustrine basins and formerly intersected
them, only a few slight remains are still visible.
At last I reached the foot of a huge morainic
rampart of blocks, which bars the valley and
extends for a stretch of about one and a quarter
miles (two versts) along it. Immediately beyond
lies the lake Ak-kul, flooding the bed of a former
glacier, which was derived fix)m the cirque-like
heads (Kare) of the two feeders, now free from
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE WHITE LAKE 259
ice, one flowing from the south-east, the other
from the south-west.
Shortly before reaching the lake basin these
valleys cease to fall at a steep incline, and uniting,
open into the valley at the level of the bed of
the lake. The course of the now verdant old
ground-moraines in the two feeders, as well as
the lines of the lateral moraines, may still be
quite clearly followed. An irregular form was
imparted to the lake, partly by the bending of
the valley just below the jimction of the two
feeders, and partly frx)m the great quantity of drift
added to the terminal moraine by an extensive
glacier, which formerly joined it from the east, so
that here the masses of erratic blocks, projecting
like bluffs, were thrust forward into the basin.
Nevertheless, its average length may be estimated
at 1,800 ft. (400 m.), and its breadth at 600 ft.
It stands 11,000 ft. (8,850 m.) above sea-level.
The quantities of detritus, brought down in the
streams from the head valleys, have already filled
up the lake basin to such an extent, that not more
than half of it is now under water, and that is
only shallow. From the quantity of argillaceous
particles held in solution, the water has acquired
a milky grey- white colour, whence its name Ak-
kul, "White Lake.'' The history of this lake,
which has now entered on the last phase of its
existence, is typical of that of hundreds of other
much more extensive bodies of water formerly
enclosed in the Tian-Shan valleys. During the
spring months the basin, as the Kirghiz informed
Digitized by LjOOQIC
260 VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES
me, appears to be still aimually flooded twelve ch"
sixteen feet above its present level by the melting
of the winter snows. I found a confirmation of
this report in the blocks of the morainic wall on
the shores of the lake, which were coated up to
that level with a fine grey-white clay sedim^it,
that was found to be still soft The overflow of
the lake finds an outlet under the wall of erratic
blocks, at the outer base of which it reappears as
a small rivulet Of the feeders of the Ak-kul,
that on the east rises on a ridge, over which a
pass leads to the Ashu-tyr valley ; the westan on
a similar ridge, by crossing which the Kapkak
valley is reached.
In a valley, intervening between the Ak-kul
and the Ashu-tjrr, lies the lake Yashik-kul, which
I did not visit I was, however, informed by
the Kirghiz that it had been more filled up by
deposits than the Ak-kul.
On the other hand, its full volume of water is
still preserved by the lake Kara-kul-say, lying
in the uppermost basin of the very important
lateral Kara-kul-say valley, which joins the Kapkak
from the south-east This lateral valley is almost
as large as the main valley, and nourishes a like
wealth of Alpine meadows and woodlands. I
reached it by penetrating west-south-westwards
into the Yar-kasn-say, a side- valley of the Ak-kul ;
then, tiumng near its head to the west-north-west
and simnounting a ridge 12,000 ft (3,700 m.) high,
the upper course of the Kara-kul-say was reached
at an altitude of 7,700 ft (2,850 m.). Profile
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE BLACK LAKE 261
and general relief of this fine Alpine valley are
likewise evidence of its having been shaped by
glacial agency. A series of now vanished lakes
may still be traced along its course, all of them
owing their origin and their disappearance to the
same causes as Lake Ak-kuL The valley has
similarly been excavated in the granitic rocks,
in which intruding diabase may here be observed.
The lake is dammed by a wall of boulder drift
over 800 ft. high, and its water has a deep
greenish-black colour, which justifies its name
of Kara-kul, " Black Lake." The basm is 2,800 ft.
(850 m.) long by 1,800 ft (400 m.) broad, and
stands at a level of about 11,000 ft (8,400 m.).
Its regular oval form is varied only by two
small inlets. The lake receives its chief affluent
from a valley in the south-south-west, whence
a now ice-free cirque or " Kar," enclosed by
high rugged walls, once discharged a very con-
siderable glacier, by which the flat lacustrine
basin has been corraded in trough form between
the granite walls. The operation was ftuthered
by lateral glaciers, joining the main glacier fix)m
transverse valleys. Judging fit>m the watermarks
on the shore, the spring level lies about twelve
to sixteen feet above that of the autumn season.
The filling-in process has not yet made much
progress, and the sheet of water is still of im-
posing extent The lake, which, as I was informed,
teems with fish, is not without romantic charm,
but lacks the animating grace of woodlands and
of conspicuous moimtain forms in its environment.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
262 VISIT TO SOME ALPINE LAKES
Here, also, the overflow finds an outlet beneath
the masses of morainic drift damming up the lake.
While I was occupied with the investigation of
these lakes I sent the Tyrolese, Kostner, to the
Mukur-mutu valleys, in order to replace the
photographic views, which had been taken there
the previous year and afterwards lost in the Musart
river. He had also instructions to keep an open
eye again for the fossiliferous beds of that district.
Although these limestones, so rich in fossils, had
been highly metamorphosed by direct contact with
the granites, and the fossils crushed beyond recog-
nition — (see my previous reports, p. IG et seq.)
he had nevertheless the good luck to discover a
bed, from which we were able to extract a lower
carboniferous fauna, that could still be identified.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XXIII
THE DONDUKOL VALLEY AND THE NORTHERN
MUSART VALLEY AGAIN
Continuous fine weather promising still to favour
my explorations, I now tmmed to the important
but hitherto imknown lateral valleys of the
northern Great Musart river. It was of great
importance for the completion of my topographic
work, that the connection should be ascertained
between these valleys and the huge glaciated
ranges, branching off eastwards from Mount
Nicholas Mikhailovich. My attention had already,
in the previous year, been drawn (see p. 88, 85) to
the Dondukol valley, which joins the Great
Musart four and a half miles (seven versts) above
its outlet into the Tekes plain, ten miles (fifteen
versts) above its confluence with the Tekes. I
was attracted not only by the picturesque charm
of the wooded moimtains encircling the confluence,
but mainly by the large volume of water, sent
by its overflow down to the Musart river. As this
stream is almost as copious as the main river,
the inference was, that a large glacier must be
harboured in the valley, the existence of which
was still unknown.
From my headquarters in the Narynkol Staniza,
363
Digitized by LjOOQIC
264 THE DONDUKOL VALLEY
an easy day*s march (about twenty-six miles ; forty
versts) brought me to the entrance of the Don-
dukol valley, from whose broad opening verdant
fluvio-glacial terraces of great extent stretch far
out, and meet similar deposits, drifted from the
main valley, at an obtuse angle; retrogressive
formation of longitudinal terraces is the conse-
quence. The choicest grazing-groimds of the
Kalmuks are found on the broad levels of these
terraces. Just beyond its debouchure (about
6,700 ft. ; 2,050 m.) the valley contracts to 200 ft
60 m.), and is overgrown with very dense pine-
woods, reaching far up the mountain slopes.
Terraces of glacial drift accompany its course for a
few miles, to where it narrows to a cafion thirty to
forty, and in places only twenty feet wide. The
passage of this cafion, which has a length of four
miles (six versts), is difficult, and possible only at
this advanced season of the year. Even now in
the late autumn a considerable stream of swirling
water still rushed through this gloomy canon,
which is strewn with rock-fi^gments, and inter-
rupted by a waterfall disposed in three stages, each
fifty to sixty feet high. Here, as in many other
places, one has to force one's way through a
wilderness of forest and boulders, over terraces in
the rocky ramparts. In summer great volumes
of water are discharged through the narrows, as
is shown by the marks on the cliflfs fourteen feet
above the autumn level. Then the Kalmuks,
in order to reach the excellent pastures on the
upper course of the Dondukol, are obliged to
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE STRATIFIED SYSTEM 265
make a long round with their flocks through
the Mukur-mutu valleys and the Maralty valley,
crossing two lofty ridges on the way. The Kalmuk
hunters also choose this way in the early part of
the year, when they go to stalk the ManJ-deer,
which is so eagerly sought for the sake of its
costly antlers, and still abounds in the dense
woods of the Dondukol valley.
The axis of the valley has a general southerly
trend, but is deflected both to the east and west,
and at its head decidedly to the east. The
mountain formations consist for the most part
of an extensive horizon of green phyUitic schists
of diverse character, often resembling grauwacke
schists, oft;en Aphanites. Between them occur
zones of crystalline limestones, beyond which
immediately follow gneiss and gneiss-granite, then
granites of diverse structure, and limestones, more
or less crystallised or else transformed to schists,
also true marbles, a series, between which diabasic
rocks are found embedded. The whole stratified
system has a nearly east to west strike, varied
with slight deviations to the south or north, with
a very steep dip of 60 — 70°. Hence the ascent
of a lofty summit by a long track over a crest,
gave nie a welcome opportunity to follow more
accurately the changes in the strata along this
trend, and to collect specimens of the whole series.
The shingle, however, in the mountain stream
already pointed in the middle course of the valley
more and more to the fact, that in this, as in
the other transverse northern valleys, the highest
Digitized by LjOOQIC
266 THE DONDUKOL VALLEY
range, enclosing the head of the valley, is composed
exclusively of sedimentary rocks : more or less
metamorphosed clay schists, and limestones, to-
gether with marble.
Scarcely has this romantic gorge again broadened
out, when the valley thus formed is blocked by an
enormous land-slip, which fills it up for a length
of over a mile, to a height of over 800 ft. above
the level of the valley (about 7,800 ft. ; 2,840 m.).
The debris consists exclusively of green phyllitic
rock and of diabase, which have crashed down
from both sides, but especially from the left
escarpment. A track of difficult access for pack-
animals leads over this tremendous bar, beyond
which the river was once dammed up in a lake one
and a quarter miles long, with an average breadth
of 500 ft (150 m.), until it succeeded in finding
an outlet under the barrier. Presumably it had
regained its old bed. For nearly its whole course
the slopes of the valley are overgrown with the
finest, densest, and most continuous pine-woods,
that I have anywhere seen in the Tian-Shan.
Moreover, owing to the above-mentioned steep
disposition of the strata, the crests of the ranges
along its banks are much torn, deeply indented,
and carved into a series of rugged peaks, diversely
outlined and adorned with glaciers, even the
slopes themselves often appearing broken up in
a chaos of pinnacles and cliffs. Lastly, the copious,
limpid mountain stream, the smiling Alpine meads,
the numerous clusters of tall bushy growths, all
lend a special charm to this valley, which thus
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE FOOT OF THE RANGE 267
ranks amongst the most picturesque in the Tian-
Shan uplands.
Wherever the valley broadens out, unmistak-
able traces have been preserved of its former
extensive glaciation in the relief of its surface
and in the masses of old morainic drift, reaching
high up along the escarpments. It is joined only
by one considerable lateral affluent, and that on
the (orographic) right bank. About the confluence,
also, there occur high verdant ridges of old morainic
drift. But all the other affluents of the main
stream descend, not from valleys in the true sense
of the word, but from upland ravines, densely
wooded.
Some seventeen miles (twenty-six versts) farther
up, the valley is again blocked by an old terminal
moraine about a mile wide, through which the
river forces its way in a caflon-like defile. Beyond
this moraine the valley, rising generally with a
very sUght incline, is nothing more than a flat
bed of glacial drift from 600 to 1,000 ft. (200—
800 m.), and at its head from 1,000 to 1,800 ft.
(800 — 400 m.) wide. Here the left scarp is
rent into a number of rugged summits with fine
intervening glaciers. Of these peaks, the highest
closes with its west flank the Uertenty valley,
ascending from the north-west (see pp. 15, 17, 247).
After about twenty-three miles (thirty-five versts)
we reached the foot of the range, which closes
the valley and forms a semicircular rampart, rising
over 6,500 ft. (2,000 m.) above its level (about
9,850 ft. ; 2,850 m.), and is completely buried
Digitized by LjOOQIC
268 THE DONDUKOL VALLEY
under nev^ and ice. From its slopes descend
steep glaciers directly to the flat, gravelly bed of
the valley, which expands in the form of a cirque,
The head of the valley shows a great resemblance
to that of the Bayumkol, ramifying, like it, into
two glacier valleys, one of which trends east,
the other west, the western being the longer, the
eastern the richer in varied forms, just as in the
Bayumkol. The length of the western glacier,
which descends in a narrow, moderately inclined
valley, I estimate at from three to four miles.
Its head is closed by a flat nevd ridge with a
saddle, the direction of which points towards the
easterly, uppermost Saikal valley (vide p. 252). All
along its northern edge this glacier is skirted by
a mountain wall, which is clothed in verdure
nearly up to its rugged crest, while along its foot
stretches a belt of brushwood interspersed with
pine-trees. Still more surprising is the height, to
which the forest reaches along the ice of the
middle glacier. Here, immediately in front of
the rugged glacial walls, a ridge, completely buried
under morainic drift, attains some 1,000 ft (800 m.)
above the level of the valley. This ridge is
covered with grass and scrub right to the top,
and up to two-thirds of its height with pine-
forest, which consequently penetrates several
hundred feet up into the zone of ice. The
grandest object at the head of the valley is the
branching eastern glacier. Here stands a group
of extremely rugged and richly glaciated rocky
peaks, with some snowy summits, flanking a deeply
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE NOSE PASS 269
notched gap, over which access is afforded to the
head of the Khamer-davan {vide p. 86), the next
great tributary of the Musart valley. This valley
owes its name to a deep col, which is flanked by a
nose-sh^ed, jagged crag (Khamer-davan = " Nose
pass "). The rampart closing the Dondukol valley
does not belong to the main watershed, but, like
that of the Saikal valley, forms a part of the
northern bordering range of the great glacier valley,
trending east from Mount Nicholas Mikailovich.
In order to get a clear grasp of all these rela-
tions, and especially of the course of the last-men-
tioned valley, I ascended a peak (about 18,000 ft ;
4,000 m.), situated in the range on the right
bank of the DondukoL It was reached over a
verdant pass (about 11,000 ft ; 8,300 m.), which
gives access to the Great Musart valley. One
might gain this valley near the second Chinese
post I have already mentioned that, by making
a day's excursion along this crest, I foimd an oppor-
tunity of collecting specimens of the whole series
of strata in the eastern range skirting the valley.
Moreover, from this elevation, we were able to
secure telephotographic views of the chain, branch-
ing eastward from Moimt Nicholas Mikhailovich,
and of Khan-Tengri, towering up beyond it
But the finest part of the prospect and the most
important section of the highlands photographed,
were the superb, many-peaked ranges east of the
Musart pass, which encircle the upper Ak-su and
Agiass valleys.
My intention was to ascend yet another peak
Digitized by LjOOQIC
270 THE DONDUKOL VALLEY
in the western scarp of the valley, m order from
the nearest point to sketch the connection of the
Dondukol, Uertenty and Saikal valleys. But
the verdant parts of the steep slope were found
to be already frozen so hard, that we could no
longer secure a footing with our worn-out mountain
boots, and the climbing-irons were not at hand.
Moreover, despite the sunny hours of daylight,
the frost had grown so mtense that we were
no longer able, in spite of all our wrappings,
to keep ourselves warm at night in our thin
moimtain tents. It was now the end of October,
and further residence in the upland valleys was
growing daily more impossible. For these reasons
I had, to my great regret, to abandon the explora-
tion of the next large lateral valley, the Khamer-
davan, as well as the proposed visit to the large
glacier valley, branching east from Moimt Nicholas
Mikhailovich, both of which were very important
for the completion of the observations hitherto
carried out Many things, which might have been
placed beyond doubt by that visit, had consequently
to remain mere assumptions based on probabilities.
I now confined myself to a ride up the Great
Musart valley as far as the confluence of the
KJiamer-davan, because a sketch-survey of this
tract was needed for the completion of my surveys,
and because I wanted to follow up some geological
observations, interrupted the previous year.
From the mouth of the Khamer-davan (about
8,000 ft. ; 2,400 m.) project some very extensive
moraines, whose form has been very well pre-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
EXTENSIVE GLACIERS 271
served. Their junction with an old terminal
moraine of the main glacier, which is several miles
wide (see p. 86), lends much variety to the relief
of the valley-bottom. The ranges boimding the
Khamar-davan, ice-clad even from the entrance of
the valley, as well as the volume of the stream,
still copious at this late and dry season of the
year, point to a considerable reservoir of glacier
ice and nev^, stiU stored up in this valley. Indeed,
the Kalmuks, who visit it with their flocks in
sunmier, spoke to me of extensive glaciers.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XXIV
OVER THE TKMITUJK-TAU TO KULJA
And thus my exploraticms in the highlands were
brought to a close. My next business was to
pack up the collections in Narynkol and forward
them over the San-tash pass, before the snows had
made it impassable. I proposed to return by way
of Kulja, as I wanted to rev-isit and exploit the
fossiliferous limestcme beds, which I had discovered
ten years before in the Temurlik-Tau, in the
Khonokhai \^ey, the soiure of the Jijen. I also
hoped, on my way down the Tekes valley, to
be able to secure another comprehensive tele-
panoramic view of the whole of the gigantic Tian-
Shan ranges, stretching between Ehan-Tengri and
the Karagai-tash pass. Unfortunately, however,
on this route the fickle weather played me £alse.
The highlands were mostly veiled in autumn fogs,
though 'tis true they arrived this year a month
later than usual. Hence but little could be done.
As the mists occasionally lifted, 1 was once more
struck by the mighty forms of the peaks, towering
up in this UtUe-laiown section of the great range,
and at the. profusion of nev^ and glaciers. In this
respect all one's dreams are siu'passed especially
by the ramparts of the two great longitudinal
272
Digitized by LjOOQIC
THE TEKES 278
Agiass and Kok-su valleys, which divide the
mountain masses along nearly the whole of this
stretch, and only in their lower course, suddenly
bending round, take the direction of the transverse
valleys and debouche into the Tekes. Here a
broad, unploughed field still lies open to mountain
exploration. No doubt the above-mentioned large
valleys have in recent years been sometimes visited
by English travellers, but exclusively as hunting-
grounds, so that geography has profited nothing
by these expeditions.
During my way down the Tekes for about
seventy miles my attention was also drawn to the
contours of the large lakes, which formerly stretched
along the northern slopes of the main chain. But
I will reserve this subject for my detailed report
As I drew near the point, where the Jijen river
escapes from the mountains, I was surprised at the
great alterations, made in the former modest little
Sumba lamasery. The simple temple buildings, I
had visited ten years previously, had disappeared.
In their place, but a little higher up the mountain
side, the monks had erected a very extensive
establishment of several hundred neat dwellings,
where from two to three hundred lamas are now
comfortably housed. The monotonous arrange-
ment of these block-houses is broken by agri-
cultural buildings, huge towering hayricks, etc.
In their midst rises a grand and spacious temple,
surrounded by large courts, flanked by smaller
shrines and elegant pavilions. The whole group,
erected by Chinese workmen, is splendid, har-
18
Digitized by LjOOQIC
274 OVER THE TEMURLIKTAU
moniously disposed and eflPective, careftilly and
tastefidly carried out and painted in bright but
not glaring colours — assuredly one of the most
beautifid temples in the west of China. Every-
thing is built of wood, except the platforms, on
which stand the several temple structures and the
monumental gates of the inner temple court, which
are of burnt brick. Extensive woods were cleared
away to provide the material for this spacious
lamasery. The aged Da-Lama, who had given me
such a hospitable welcome ten years before, had
since died ; but his successor also showed himself
obliging and considerate. He allowed me to
photograph the temple inside and outside, and
even showed me round everywhere himself.
Unfortunately, the weather had turned quite
bad. Winter had suddenly set in in all its
severity, with heavy snowfalls and intense cold.
The crossing of the Temurlik passes was no longer
an easy matter. When I left the friendly lamasery
(about 6,400 ft. ; 1,950 m.) on November 5th, in
deep snow, and turned to the mountains, I almost
gave up the hope of being able to collect any
more fossils. Nevertheless, against all expectation,
I had the good luck to secure a rich lower
carboniferous fauna in the Khonokhai valley.
Certainly the work was much impeded by the
deep fresh snow, and under more favourable
conditions the spoils would assuredly have been
far richer.
The Khonokhai pass, that I wanted to cross, was
already blocked by snow, as were also the other
Digitized by LjOOQIC
AT TASHKENT 275
passes. The far longer way through the defiles of
the Shateh pass (about 10,000 ft. ; 8,000 m.) was
the only one now open to me. It was traversed
amid incessant snowstorms under great hardships.
To my regret I was no longer able to derive
much profit from a district, which is interesting
both geologically and for its charming scenery, and
after two days' plodding, was fain to be satisfied
with the knowledge, that my caravan had safely
reached the Kalmuk station of Ukurchy (about
4,600 ft; 1,400 m.), at the north foot of the
highlands. Thence we made our way to Kainak
(about 2,500 ft. ; 750 m.), on the lU plain, and
on November 9th I entered Kulja. As a great
part of my collections was still at Przhevalsk,
where they would have to be re-packed before
being sent on, there was nothing for it but to re-
cross the mountains (Ketmen-Tau) from Jarkent,
although the snows and ice had made the road
almost impassable. Thanks solely to the inter-
vention of Mr. Smirnoff, at the head of the
Jarkent district, who summoned the Kirghiz to
my aid, I was able to get through, and entered
Tashkent at the beginning of December.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
CHAPTER XXV
SUMAfARY
When I cast a glance back on the results of
this long expedition, full of cares and hardships,
I feel myself justified in declaring that it has
not been carried out without benefit to science*
When all the topographical surveys, made during
the journey have been brought together in a
single cartographic picture, the notions, hitherto
entertained regarding the structure of the Central
Tian-Shan, will be modified and completed in
many respects.
By the description, undertaken by Herr Keidel
of the geological structure of the regions traversed
by us, the new facts, already disclosed in this
report, will be added to and more fiilly eluci-
dated, while the knowledge, hitherto current of
the geotectonic relations of these gigantic high-
lands, will in many points be supplemented, in
others corrected.
The foundation for this description will be
laid by the paleontological and petrographical
collections, seciued during the course of the
expedition. Of these the former are certainly
tlie richest, that have ever been brought hither
from this part of Central Asia, while the petro-
276
Digitized by LjOOQIC
SUMMARY 277
graphical ones are scarcely second to them in
importance. By both, fresh light will be shed on
the stratigraphical system of Central Asia.
Until these rich materials have been examined
and determined by competent experts, it would
be rash to draw conclusions from the facts, recorded
in this preliminary report and from other data,
not incorporated therein. Only on one point my
scientific conviction is already settled once for all —
namely, that for the Tian-Shan also an ice age
has to be accepted. Much, that in the present
report could merely be suggested in support of
this view, will be more fully developed in another
to follow later, where overwhelming evidence will
be adduced in favour of my assumption. Certainly,
the last glacial period in the Tian-Shan, which for
the present can alone be spoken of as clearly
established, may have taken a different course from
those of Europe, in accordance with the particular
phenomena, preceding the close of the ice age in
Central Asia, above all as regards the distribution
of land and water and other specially Central
Asiatic conditions. But as to whether, as in other
highland regions, here also several glacial periods
succeeded each other a final decision will not be
possible until the observed facts have been sub-
mitted to a more sifting scrutiny. The objection
might even now be raised to my assumption, that
in the broad tracts stretching along the foot of
the Central Asiatic highlands, no traces are dis-
coverable of a former ice-cap — such as are found
in such abundance in Europe and America. I
Digitized by LjOOQIC
278 SUMAIARY
should therefidre Uke at <mce to point out, that in
regions^ where abrasion, destruction and the removal
of their products have operated to such an
extniocdinary extait as hoe, and where, moreover,
owing to the most violent thermal contrasts and
other climatic influaices, which cannot here be
further dwelt upon, tlie demolition and removal
of the original surface and its redistribution have
so far adMmced, traces of glaciation naturally
caniK>t have been preserved to the same extent
as in Europe and America. Nevertheless, they
are by no means lacking, as I shall show by the
coincklcnce of my own obser\^tions. And as
sucli e\*idcnce has not hitherto been seriously
sought after by any one, it is reasonable to
suppose that it will yet be found, both in far
greater abundance and spread over a much
wider area.
During this expedition photc^raphy was placed
at the service of exploration to quite a pre-
eminent extent, in order as feur as possible to
secure pictorial evidence and demonstration of the
facts observed.
Our operations were conducted with three
cameras of different construction and dimensions,
as well as with different plates, adapted to the
varying conditions. Profitable use was made of
the telephotographic process, which, aided by the
most recent appliances, gave excellent results, and
must be regarded as an indispensable aid to
travellers in highland regions of difficult access.
During the expedition over two thousand photo-
Digitized by LjOOQIC
SUMMARY 279
graphs were taken, whose reproduction will reveal
a hitherto unknown highland world.
Less rich than the paleontological is the botanical
collection, to the gathering of which a systematic
method could not be applied. It was carried out
only to such an extent, as time and our resources
permitted consistently with the work, that had to
be devoted to the other matters of primary im-
portance, included in our programme. In mountain
expeditions, which in any case make such severe
claims on the traveller's time and strength, in
which the state of the weather also is frequently
most adverse and, owing to the constant hurry,
required to secure objects very difficult of attain-
ment, the most promising localities can often be
exploited only in a very cursory way, or even
not at all ; here, at most, only a little of the flora
can be snatched up in all haste and any hope of
systematic botanising must, from the first, be given
up. Nevertheless, even the botanic collection is
not unimportant and contains, besides numerous
specimens of the upland flora, a somewhat rich
assortment of the early spring flora of the South
Tian-Shan steppes and deserts.
Still less favourable were the conditions for
gathering zoological collections, during a mountain
expedition, whose aims were directed to quite
another domain. StiU, we did not altogether
neglect this branch of science. The specimens
collected are numerous, and many of them of
high interest.
During the whole expedition, records were taken
Digitized by LjOOQIC
280 SUMMARY
twice a day of atmospheric pressure, tempentaie»
and humidity, the barometric pressure being tak«i
simuitauieou2Jy with three aneroids^ whose con-
ditiua was compared at intervals of oas or two
da>'s with the boiling-point thomometar. For
detenuining the temperature relations of the
atmosphere, maximum and minimum thermometers
were employed. Moreover, obsavatiotus were taken
of insolation* wind-pressure and cloud-formatioii,
us fiur as possible* These observaticwis, when all
are worked out, will thus {«esent a clear picture
of the climatic relations in the regi<»is tr a v e rsed
by us« and at the same time furnish the carto-
graphers with the necessary data for fixing several
hundred points.
For whatever results may have beoi secured in
the dirticult regions trav»sed by the expedition,
1 am» to quite an exertional degree, indelAed to
the fiivour and support received firom the directMS
of the Imperial Rusaan Geogn^>hical Society.
1 therefore here tender my reqiectfiil tihanks to
the illustrious first presidoit of this association,
which has rendered such signal services to the
work of exploration in Central Asia, His Impoial
Highness the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich,
who showed such great sympathy and encourage-
ment towards my expedition. My most sincere
thanks are also offered to the acting-presidait
of the same corporaticm, the distinguished first
explorer of the Tian-Shan, His ExceUaicy P. P.
Semenoff, for his excellent advice, and for the
official pas^qport (AtkrytySst) of the society, as
Digitized by LjOOQIC
SUMMARY 281
well as for special pennissions on behalf of the
expedition, procured from the highest Imperial
Russian officials. My warmest acknowledgments
are likewise due to the chief secretary of the
society, Professor Grigorieff, for placing at my
disposal the rich and valuable Russian literature on
the Tian-Shan and for many other friendly
services.
My undertaking also enjoyed the special good-
will of His Excellency Lieutenant-General N. I.
Ivanoff, shown by assigning me a Kossack escort,
by instructing the officials under his jurisdiction
to lend me every assistance, and by many other
favours, for all of which I here tender him my
liveliest thanks. I feel specially grateful to General
von Stubendorf, head of the topographic section
of the General Staff, who kindly provided me with
the necessary maps ; to Mr. N. F. Petrovsky,
Imperial Russian Consul-General in Kashgar, for
the ftirtherance of my undertaking in divers and
sundry ways ; to the district magistrate in Osh,
Colonel Saizeff, for his zealous and kindly co-
operation; to His Excellency Herr Giers, late
Russian envoy in Munich, for procuring the intro-
duction of my equipment into Russia duty-free.
If I was successful in my photographic opera-
tions, I am much indebted for this to my friend,
Cavaliere Vittorio Sella of Biella, who not only
placed his incomparable experience at my disposal,
providing me with his excellent advice before I
started, but also took upon himself the enormous
labour of working^ out my great collection of
Digitized by VjOOQIC
28J SUMMARY
negfttives. For this most unselfish labour I here
tender him my heartiest thanks. I feel indebted
to many other persons, without whose help it
would have been impossible, to overcome the
incidental difficulties of the undertaking, who,
without being actually named, may here accept
the assurance of my lasting gratitude.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
NOTES CONCERNING THE MAP
The accompanying map, as may be seen from
its title, does not profess to give a complete and
accurate representation of the physical features of
the Central Tian-Shan. In order to enable the
reader to follow the course of the Expedition, a
sketch-map had to be provided before the surveys
and observations of positions and heights, made
during our travels, could all be worked out and
embodied in a complete map, which, on account
of the great extent of the region traversed and
the quantity of topographical details collected,
will need a good deal of time to elaborate. How-
ever, the principal geographical results of the
Expedition have been incorporated in the sketch-
map, though only in a provisional fashion, and the
most cursory comparison with any of the hitherto
published maps wiU reveal essential differences in
the main features of the Tian-Shan.
As many hundreds of barometrical observations
of altitude, made during the Expedition, have yet
to be accurately collated, the figures relative to
these points could be inserted only in round
numbers, which do not claim to be absolutely
correct At most the relative heights, as compared
Digitized by LjOOQIC
284 NOTES CONCERNING THE MAP
with one another, may be accepted as Mrlj
accurate. On such a small scale it was impossible
to insert all the places, passes, etc., or the names
of all the rivers and streams, without impairing
the clearness of the map, in which only those
places will be found, which were visited by the
Expedition or lay near its route. Those glaciers,
which were crossed and surveyed by the Expedition,
are all delineated ; of the remainder, only those
that could be well seen from our route are inserted*
Thus, the glaciers of the Naryn district, and those
of the extensive region, drained by the great river-
systems of the Agiass and the Eok-su, are not
represented, although the higher portions of the
Agiass and Kok-su groups are covered with a
continuous mantle of nev^, from which large
primary glaciers descend to the valleys. The
hydrographic system, as shown in this map, may,
in spite of its somewhat cursory rendering, be taken
as tolerably accurate.
As regards the spelling of names, I have not
attempted a fastidious rendering, by means of
unfamiliar letters or signs, of intermediate soimds,
not known to the English language, such as Tien-
Shan, in lieu of Tian-Shan, since such subtilties
can only interest the linguist or etymologist. It
has been my aim to give the simplest possible
phonetic equivalents of the names of places in the
Tian-Shan, most of them of Turkish origin, but
I am well aware that, in the hurry of preparation,
some inconsistencies may have, here and there,
occurred. Having been at the greatest pains to
Digitized by LjOOQIC
NOTES CONCERNING THE MAP 285
ascertain the true, current names of localities, and
having visited most of them repeatedly and
thoroughly, I think my nomenclature has a claim
to authority.
Places marked with O are not always villages,
but in many cases pasturages, which are regularly
visited, at certain seasons, by the Kirghiz herdsmen.
The sign h stands for places, where the Chinese
government maintains military posts. The routes
followed by the Expedition are denoted by red
lines. Further details were precluded by the
small scale of the map.
Digitized by LjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
INDEX
Almassy, Dr Q. von, suggeatlon
"^.^y, as to tbe watora of the
Digitized by CjOOQIC
Digitized by LjOOQIC
INDEX
Abdul-kia or Alep-turga, 115
Achailo pass, 218
— torrent, the, 217
Achik-tash valley, the, 62
Adyr-tyr glacier, the, peaks to
the soath of, 41
— valley, the, 60, 62, 189 ; wealth
of glaciers and mountains in,
60 ; geological formation of, 61 ;
and vide Moshketoflf glacier
Agiass river, the, 88
— valley, the, 273
Aire river, the, 144
Aiktyk valley, 112
Ak-bel plateau, the, 177
— valley, the, glacier pass in, 168
Ak-chiu, Herr Keidel collects
fossil plants at, 109
Ak-kia, 116
Ak-kul lake and river, 257, 258
— valley, expansion at the mouth
of the, 23
Ak-shiriak chain of mountains,
the, 177, 178
Ak-su, town, 102, 126, 137
— river and valley, the, 150, 157,
234
Ak-tala, 119
Ak-topa valley, the, 94
Alagyr valley, 135
Alai-aigyr valley, moraine at the
mouth of, 23, 27, 249
Alexander mountains, excursion
of Herren Pf ann and Keidel to, 8
Almassy, Dr. G. von, suggestion
by, as to the waters of the
Sary-jass, 240
Alpine lakes, a visit to some,
254-262
Altyn-Artysh villages, 103, 105,
112 ; destruction of, by earth-
quakes, 103
Angara series, fossil plants of
the, 109
Apatalkan pass and valley, the,
114
Argu basin, the, terraces in, 105
Arkogak basin, the, the bed of
106
— lake, 105
"Artysh strata, the," 103, 104;
seismic movement in, 104;
villages, 104
Ashu-tyr pass, 38
— valley, the, 26, 36, 38, 260;
view of Khan-Tengri from near
the mouth of, 26 ; length of, 36
Ayak-Sugun, 108
Bai, town, 126, 127, 128
Balter-Tailak valley, 167, 168
Bash-chakma, 124
Bash-kara-bulak valley, the,
forms of a vanished glacial
epoch in, 13
Bai^-ogly-tagh cluun, the, 10, 12
Bash-Sugun pastures, the, 106;
fossils found in, 107 ; a second
287
Digitized by LjOOQIC
288
INDEX
excursion to, 109; carboni-
ferous Permian deposits in,
110, 112
Bayumkol glaciers, the, 2*7, 28,
33, 34, 80, 245 ; the formation of,
80 ; the eastern glacier, 250
— pass, 80, 187
— yalley, the, 19-36 ; the mouth
of, 22, 24; geological profile
of, 25, 26; crystalline rocks
in, 26; the middle course of
the valley, 27 ; climatic condi-
tions, 29, 30; glacier region
of , 33, 34 ; bad weather in, 35 ;
a second visit to, 79 ; the ridge
between the Bayumkol and
Karakol valleys, 81 ; a third
visit to, 245 ; the middle valley,
257
Bedel pass, the, 118, 159, 166,
173 ; information on the route
through, 170
— river, 174 et seg,
— valley, the, 144, 171, 173;
blue-green slates in the lime-
stones in, 171
Bogdanovich, M., 107 ; forma-
tions named by him, 97; his
views on the geolo^cal posi-
tion of the "Artysh strata,"
104 ; fossils found by him, 104,
105
Bom-khotan,'geological formation
near, 133
Borkoldai chain, the, 176; the
crystalline zone in, 161
" Bos-aidyr chain," the, 113, 116,
118
Bos-tagh range, the, 138, 149,
150
Botanic collection, the, made by
the expedition, 279
Bulung-turuk, 122
Buraty valley, the, 256
Busai-tash pass, the, 132
" Cathkkink Peak," 176
Chadan-Ta, 101
Chagash-gumbes, the Aul of, 116
Chakh-chi, 127
Chakmak, Takub Beg's fortified
post at, 105
Chalkody-su valley, the, 13
Chalmaty valley, the, 173
Chandar Aul, the, 147
Chapta-khanne, 135
Chatyr-kul lake, 179
Chiran-toka valley, the, 98
Cholok-su valley, 135
Chon-jar valley, the, 166
Chorlok river, Uie, 147
Chul-Tau, the, 101, 127
Climate in the Central Tian-Shan
region, records taken of, 29, 30,
69,280
Dabvasse-su valley, the, 168
D^hy, M. von, help afiTorded
by, 4 ; hospitality of, 6
Denge-davan pass, the, 123
Dondukol river, the, 83, 85
— valley, the, 15, 247, 252, 263-
271 ; glaciers in, 268
Dungaretme pass, the, 169
Eabthquake, a severe, 71, 161
£ski,109
Fbiedrichsen, Dr., 8, 37, 38
Gess valley, the, 109
Giers, Herr, 281
Grigorieff, Professor, help af-
forded by, 2, 281
Hedin, Sven, 114, 120, 121, 146
loNATiBFF, L W., expedition of,
to the glaciers of the Central
Tian-Shan, 3, 80 ; name given
by him to the Karakol valley,
Digitized by LjOOQIC
INDEX
289
37 ; his esdmate of the extent
of the Semenoff glacier, 43 ;
of the Inylchek glacier, €7 ; of
the Mnshketoff glacier, 189;
his notes on the geology of the
Great Moaart ronte, 8S
lii plain, the, 275
Bovaisky, Brof., help rendered
by, 7
Inylchek glacier, the, 41, 00-75,
182, 193 ; extent of, 07 ; atti-
tude of, at its lower end, 72 ;
the chsdn skirting it, 41, 52,
00» 202, 205 ; exploration of,
190-206 ; its total length, 210
— river, the, 67, 236
— valley, the, 194; the sonth
border range of, 41, 52, 60, 205 ;
the monntain chain on the
north dide of, 04 ; dry atmos-
phere of, 09; description of,
08-70, 241-243 ; dimatic pecu-
liarities of, 75 ; a superb
range between it and the
Kayndy valley, 218
lonoff, lieutenant-Gteneral, 8
Ishigart-Tau, the, 143, 174^ 238
Ishtyk pass, the, 170, 180
Ishtyk-su, the, 143, 174; the
h^water region of, 178
Issyk-kul lake, the, 8, 180, 182, 183
Ivanoff, lieutenant^ en eral
N. I., friendly reception ac-
corded by, 7, 281
Jai-tsvb, the Kirghiz settlement
of, 114
Jam-kuluk village, 129
Jam-tama valley, the, 194
Janart pass, 142
— valley, the, 140, 141, 143^ 144 ;
its richness in grass and forests,
105
Jan-kasnak valley, the, 134
Jin-jilga valley, the, 90
Jiparlik glacier, the, 89 ; end of,
90 ; its length, 91
Jitim-Tau, the, 179
Kaiche pass, the^ 159
— valley, the, 136, 143, 144
TC^JTiiiV^ 275
Kaldy-Yailak phdn, the, 108
Kali-agach valley, the, 128
Eapkak pass, the, 76, 186, 244
— river, the, 77
— valley, the, 186 ; special
features of, 77
Kapsalyan river, the^ 128, 129
— vall^, the, 129, 132
Kapyl-Tau mountains, the, 12
Kara-archa gorge, 230 et $eq.
— pa8s,ihe, 227, 228, 229
— torrent, the, 229
Karabag plain, the, 134, 135
Kararbel pass, the, 112, 228
— valleys, the, 225
Kaiarbulaic, 116
Kara-bulung, 122
ELara-bury pass, the, 152
Kara-gat valley, the, 150
Kara-jil, 113
Kaiakol glacier, the northern, 38 ;
coating of moraine debris over
the southern, 136
Kaxa-kol lake, the, 254
— valley, the, 37, 173
Kara-kul-say lake, the, 78, 260,
201
— valley, the, 78, 200, 201
Kara-say, the, headwater region
of, 177, 178, 179
Kara-turuk gorge, the^ 121
Karkara, ancient lake floor of, 10,
183,185
Karmulde, 174
Kasalai valley, the, 157
Kash-bulak valley, the, 94
Kashgar town, 102, 109, 111, 112 ;
earthquakes in, 104
19
Digitized by LjOOQIC
290
INDEX
KABhgar-dirut TilWf » the, loess
deposits in, 100
Kaskkft-sa TmUey, Um, 42
KMlikA-tyr psss, Um, 185
KASDsk-SQ, riTor, 1S8, 134
Ksolbara, A. W. tod, explorm-
tions ol, 8 ; his notes on the
topogn^ifaj of the Mossrt ps88»
8S; his appredation of the
significuice €i the Borkoklai
chain, 176
Kayndy glacier, the, 281, 8S8, 883
— river, Um, 819, 880, 838
— vafley, the, 73, 804, 805, 818,
880, 888, 883, 836; sunrey of,
836 ; ranges skirting, 880, 885,
837 ; signification of name, 880
Keidel, Herr Hans, 111, 180;
joins the expedition, 4; his
share in the report of the ex-
pedition, 5; he starts from
Munich, 6 ; makes an excursion
to the Alexander mountains, 8 ;
collects some fauna, 11, 158 ;
investigates the tertiary forma-
tion of the Tekes plain, 14;
takes the geological profile of
the Bayumkol valley, 85, 86 ;
fossils discovered l^, 38 ; in-
vestigates the geological struc-
ture of the range surrounding
the Saiy-jass, 48 ; his researches
in the lower Inylchek valley, 73 ;
collects specimens from the
Musart valley, 98 ; his collect-
ing seal, 108 ; his discoveries
in the Tegermen basin, 106 ;
investigates the loess deposits
in the Kashgar-daria valley,
109 ; fauna collected by him in
the Ot-bashi-tagh region, 185 ;
his attempt to penetrate the
Kapsalyan valley, 138; carboni-
ferous fauna found by him in
the Kok-shaal valley, 148;
Devonian fossils found by him,
180 ; cofledB ftumain the Kok-
jar vaDey, 185; triangulates
above the Semenoff glacier,
186; in the Kayndy v^ey,
881 ; his description of the
geological structure of the
Central Tian-Shan, 876
Kenem-begu valley, the, 83
Kepek-chai vaUey, the, 131
Kerege-tash pass, the, 181
Ketmen-Tau heists, 11
Khalyk-Tau, the, 88, 97, 181 ; first
exploration of, 186 ; informa-
tion of it doubtful, 187 ; ex-
ploration of its valleys, 188-135
Khamer-davan vall^, the, 186,
869, 870, 871
Khan-Tengri, the position of, 15,
17, 58, 53, 58, 59, 67, 76, 185,
193, 806-816 ; a ^impse of, 86,
87, 40, 58, 74, 76, 198, 193, 194,
196, 197, 196, 803 ; the snow-
fields of, 40 ; the height of, 41,
48, 185 ; the base of, 48 ; the
summit of, 74, 809 ; a splendid
view of, 80, 198, 194 ; the geo-
logical formation of, 818 ; the
possibility of climbing it, 214
Khonokhai pass, the, 874
— valley, the, 874
Khurgo vaUey, the, 168
Kirghiz tents, 11
— Ala-Tau, vide Terskei- Ala-Tau
Kish-talga, 135
Koi-kaf gorge, the, 887, 831, 833
— river, the, bed of, 836
— valley, the, 149, 150, 167, 887,
833,834
Kokbelys pass, the, 180, 167
Kok-jar valley, the, geological
exploration in, 185 ; the profile
of, 240 ; the upper valley, 844
*' Kok-kya range," the, 112, 135
Kok-rum river, Uie, 168, 169
Digitized by LjOOQIC
INDEX
291
Kok-rum valley, the, 144, 169, 165,
169, 172
Kok-shaal valley, the, 115, 122,
142, 169 ; traces of glacial action
in, 117; aeolian corrosion in, 123
Kok-shaal-Tau, the, 116-118
Kok-su valley, the, 273
Kok-tan range, the, northern
slope of, 107
Koneshar, 97, 136
Konganishuk-Tangyll Aul, 123
Kongul-jol valley, the, 62
Koshe-bashe Aul, 123
Kosh-karata valley, the, 144
Eostner, Franz, 6, 111
Krassnoff, A. M., expedition of,
3 ; the name given by him to
the Tys-ashu valley, 64; his
report on the valleys between
Bedel and Kum-aryk, 144;
crosses the Bedel pass, 170
Kuberganty, 185, 244
Enchi oasis, the, 145, 158
Enkurtuk oasis, the, 140, 158, 168
— pass, 162, 164
— valley, the, 144, 158-166 ; the
entrance to, 159 ; narrow
gorges in, 162
Eulja, 275
Eolu-Tau highlands, the, 62, 238
Kum-aryk river, the, origin of,
149, 150 ; source of, 157, 175
— valley, the, 144-149, 160, 175,
233, 234, 235, 238
Kumbulung Aul, 124
Kungeu-Tau heights, 10
"Kuren,"97
Kurumduk river, the, 106, 108
— valley, the, 104
Kusgun-ya valleys, the, 62, 73,
194,196
Kutingy, 15
Kuuluk-Tau heights, 10
Eyssalik, 135
Kysyl-gumbes, 118
Eysyl-kut pass, the, l52
Kysyl-tal valley, the, 135
LiKHANOFF, J. L, 12
Mai-bulak valley, 62
Mai-tewe, 123
Mansui^tagh, the, 152
Maral-deer, 265
Maralty valley, the, 15, 17, 252
"Marble Wall," the, 28, 31, 33;
its identity with Khan-Tengri,
41 ; the nucleus of the main
ramifications of the Central
Tian-Shan system, 211
Markesh-tagh, 116
Masar-Takub, 128
Maurer, Herr, 111
Maydan-Gess valley, the, 104
Mikhailovich, the Grand Duke
Nicholas, help afforded by, 2 ;
reception accorded by, 7 ; his
name given to the "Marble
Wall,'' 211, 245, 251, 263, 269,
270 ; the author's indebtedness
to, 280
Moro-khotan valley, the, 94
Mukur-mutu valleys, the, 14^ 15,
247, 252, 262, 266
Munkys valley, the, 143, 144
Musart-daria, tiie, 135
Musart pass, the, 32, 82, 88
Musart rivers, the Great and
Little, valleys of, 14, 15 ; valleys
of the Great river, 263
— valley, the, entrance to, 82, 84,
269; length of, 85, 92; geo-
logical features of, 92 ; glacia-
tion of, 94 ; lateral valleys of,
98; survey of, 270; entrance
to the Little valley, 245, 246;
exploration of, 245-253; view
of the ranges skirting the Little
valley, 256
Mushketoff, J. W., researches of,
Digitized by LjOOQIC
MS
INDEX
1 ; tertiftry in d Mcim found
bjlum, 1^
MoahkeK^ ^tder, the, 41, 56»
57, 60, 180> 193; the <^ttB
skiituig it, 41, 58, 190» SOi ;
mnrej of, 189-199
— pMB, the, 57, 191
Mara]yk, 189, 1S9
Myn-dagyl-bakk ytlkj, the, 144,
1G8
Myn-tyr Im8^ the, 840, 844
— TmUiqr, the, 185
Na&th river, 175, 178, 841
Nvynkol, 18, IS, 14, 80, 79, 88,
185, 186, 846, 973
— pMB, tlie, 80
— valley, the, 855
Nura-nor lake, the, 854
Ol-TATTIB oasis, the, 145, 146
Okhotnichi, vide Narynkol
Ot-hashi-tagh ridge, 184
FiTBOFP glader, 177
— peak, 138, 173; the position
of, 143
Petrorsky, M. N. F., help af-
forded by, 118, 881
Hann, Heir Hans, 193; joins
the expedition, 3, 6; makes
an excursion to the Alexander
mountains, 8; surveys the
Bayumkol valley, 89; detei^
mines heights of ranges in
Central T^an-Shan, 48 ; his
expedition on the Inylchek
glacier, 73>75 ; completes his
survey of the western glacier
of the Bayumkol valley, 79;
returns home, 103 ; his measure-
ments of Khan-Tengri, 186
Photography, the use of, on the
expedition, 17, 88, 40, 58, 56,
74, 119, 173, 177, 180, 186, 187,
188, 189, 194, 303, 809, 883, 345,
958 e< «I9m 968> 963, 809, 87S»
878
I^evtnff; IL, 170
Pokhrovakaym, 183
Phdievalsk, 8, 188, 875
Pkihevakki, IL, 170
BOBBIL, Enjoins the expeditkxi,
7 ; returns home, 108
Sabavoht diain, the, 138, 145
— i^er, the, 149, 151-157 ; ex-
ploration of, 154; ascent o£,
155 ; length of, 156
— river, the, 149, 153
— vaD^, the, 149, 158, 158;
background of, 156
Safar-bai Aul, 188, 173
Saikal river, the, 854, and fnde
Musart, Little
— valley, the, 83, 845 «< seg. ;
total length of, 858
Saixeff, Oolonel, 881
San-tash pass, tiie, 10
Saposhnikoff, Prof ^ 8, 9
Sart-jd pass, the, 185
Sary-bel pass, the, 169
Sary-jass river, the, 38, 39,40,43,
44, 178, 186, 337, 338-841
— valley, the, 9, 36-59, IS^eiieg. ;
present conjfiguration of, 43;
green prairies of, 61 ; waters
of, 175, 178, 340, 841 ; the en-
closing walls of, 839 ; breadth
of, 341
Sary-jass-Tau, the, 338
Sary-jass-tuty, 13
Sary-turuk Aul, 138
Schubert, Herr,help afforded by,8
Sella, Cavaliere Vittorio, help
afforded by, 4, 881
Semenoff, P. P., 1, 3, 117, 380 ;
discovers the sigidficance of
the glacial deposits in the
Sary-jass valley, 43
Digitized by LjOOQIC
■JA liwJX " ■ ■ ■
INDEX
298
II!
Semenoff glacier, the, 9 ; ezcnr-
aions for the exploration of, 40,
186-188; the extent of the
evader, 43 ; the tcmgae of the
glacier, 46; its breadth near
the tongne, 47; its constancy,
48 ; its resemblance to Euro-
pean glaciers, 49 ; its length,
60 ; a survey of, 186-188
— pass, the, 50
— peak, the, 53
Serakh-su valley, the, 98
Severzoff, N. A^ 1, 118
Shaikhle Aul, 147, 148, 157
Shateh pass, the, 875
Shinne Aul, 181
Shinne-davan pass, the, 181
Sindan river, the, 144
Slivkina, 183
Smirnoff, M., help afforded by,
875
Sogdan-Tan, the, 119, 181
Booka pass, the, 180, 181
— valley, the, 183
Steinmann, Prof ^ 4
Stoliczka, M., 104, 105, 107
Stubendorf, lieutenant-General
Von, 7, 881
Sugun river, the, 107, 108
— valley, the, 107
Sugun-karaul, 106
Sukhun, 130, 138
Sumba lamasery, the, 873
Sum-tash, 180
Syrt plateau, the, 177 et seq.^ 818,
840
Taoh-titmshuk, 108, 184
Taldy-bulak, 10
Taltan-su valley, the, 144
Tamlok stream, the, 147
Tangitar ravine, the, 105, 106
— river, the, 106, 118
Tanke-sai valley, the, 144, 168
Tarim basin, the, 43, 139
Tashkent, report written in, 4;
a journey to, 7, 109, 875
Tashmalik, 109
Tas-tepe diff, 88
Taushkan-daria, the, 189, 144,
168, 169
Tegermen basin, the, 106
— lake, the, 105
Tekes plain, the, 14, 80, 81, 88,
846, 863, 873 ; tertiary forma-
tion of, 14
— river, the, 14, 80, 83
Temurlik passes, the,crossing,874
Terek river, 188
— valley, the, 138, 133, 134, 158
Terek-ty river, the, 839
Terskei-Ala-Tau, the, 180, 181,
183
" Three Valleys," the, 886
Tian-Shan (Central), the, moun-
tain chains of, 1, 19; higher
r^ons of, 8 ; glaciers of , 3, 40 ;
carbonaceous fossils in, 10;
ice age of, 13, 88 ^ seq,, 34, 39
et «eg., 43, 63 ff seq,, 81, 88, 86
et $eq,, 94 et seq,, 117, 148, 149,
150 et $eq., 174, 178 H seq,, 818,
883, 886, 837, 846 et seq., 855,
858 et seq,^ 864 et seq., 877 ;
valleys of, 85; climate and
snows, 89 et $eq,, 64et9eq,; ex-
treme heights of, 31 ; the glacier
ranges of, 40; the southern
base of, 139
Tilbichek valley, the, 188, 189,
130,133
Togak Aul, 147
Tograk-Tailak valley, the, 96, 98
TokaiAul,147
Topadavan range, the, structure
of, 99
ToBor pass, the, 181
Toyrm valley* the, 103 ; Devonian
fossils in, 104
Tur plateau, the, 76
20
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INDEX
TfMite ««tt»9. the, tt OHm^^ ^«Bej, tke. 144
•-vftllrrft.tk^a;«4«7«^lfl,U8, *WkilepMi»*tke,ie8
Trrikw-fl^ vttOrf, tH 1S( Taocv^al ^Blky, tlie, 135
Tft-koHMh vbH^, the, 134
I'm, 1t1, Ifl Y^k'tMMk mm, the, 177-180
r^kal mtr, the, t>» — ^dDey, the, vmOi ol, 179
fVh-Maidak, ItO Telnb B« 106, 11€^ 154, 108,
I'lh A«l>the,ref»a,g6rf<iy, lO
— mtr, dw^ ftS, fl» TAfiB-Khemyii ^eder, the, 88
I'd ihit T— , the, fl» Teap-Hknr, 100
Uch-Tvln, lt&, 137, 130 ; irwwi ! Yf-jflg^ 134
froni,13!i . Tar-kan-eij vrnDey, 360
VhAj TftOer, the, 180 j Teehik-kiil bke, 960
VwtflKtjr peOa, 17,36t ! Tntuh river, the, 178, 839
— vtOcjr, the, l^ 347, 851, S&8, Tnlfufan dudn, the, 177
837 I
r tlmkk, 140, 144 ( Zoological collection of the ex-
Ulnirrhy, 875 peditioo, the, 879
fWMMl *y mamU, Wmmm A fte^ 14^ Imiw «M
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I
I
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Qiiiilifiiiiii
3 9016 02706 5245
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"NIV. OF MICH.
APR 9 1906
RECEIVED
PL
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