, 1879-07-16

Returning: It tn lis Old lied

1t Is nat very easy as yet TO decide how much
Importance Is to TIC attached to tie announce
melit which coincs this noruing tint Htbou-
aatia o[ WorkEntn hare hccn engaged for sov.
eFa' weeks oil works designed to cause the Oxus
sscr to return to Its anclent bed 60 as to estnb-
lfsi M easy water communication octwecn tho
Cahpiah SEA mid the regions bordering on Al
choHiatan.' If the work should prove surcess-
fu' It would certainly ba of Immense political.
military, and commercial advantage. The Oxus.
or Amou-Darya, has two beds, over ono OF witch
1t finds a mouth OIL the southern shore of Lako
Aral, aoout 100 miles due north Of Kttiya. whtte
over the other In former times It cnptied Itself
Into krasno7odsk Bay, OH the southeastern
eosst ot The Caspian. Frn1n the latter botl Il
was diverted tuto the former by means 1T a
dam erected within three or four dnys' narcl, uf
hhiyu,-prcciscly when cannot be snId, hut ecr-
tainly alter ts!c expulsion Of the Tartors from
lussi1. as use operation wac suggested by tic
i!cnr OF tusslan extension towards the Ens;. Tlp
lsusslans knew M nothing Of tl,e r:!stcnce o. @lIs
eonnfsaoncd Prince Dckoritclt CncTi;assi to
procced ulong the ancient bud Of The river to
khirn, to reconnotro It md "foflA Judgment
rs to the practcabIl!tY OF danutne lie course OF
Tie stream then flowing into il,e Aral Lake, sn,i
The amount Of lnbor Tint would be reGutseti for
performing the work" The expedition. bow
eysr, was destrosei; In ls9; rero!sk WA 1ens
bed Vi tic Oxus" but he did not 20
near the ancient bo1 Of tho Oxus, and
though 10 Gen. kautman's time frequent
exploring expedition fiRve been reported, tlry
ia5c been usually regarded In Europa ns 'cxpc.
dltlons against tile Iurcotnaus or reconnotH-
sances on the road TO Atery. It Ia, however,
certain tflnt In 1870 " COMPANY for the cprour.
agcn'ens Of industry una eun,acrcc y was form.
cd IN Russia under the patronage Of the Gr.nl
Duke Constantine ond Prince Gurtschato1T IN
divert the river to tic old cha1lnc1. III October
'.brenkIrg :. 1le dams near the fortified Town Of
Denl, on Khiynn territory, had filled Its ancient
bed Ms far as Lake Jury" news which revived
t!n hope Of diyerting tic principal branch.
trail Aatan seu-surpent," )" d "lream Of SIay crc-
dutEsy," and "waxmcl-np iayth.n He.aerupa-
cd .l'e conclusions of Loren: nnd Won
ell The ancient Oxus as flowing into
the Caspian wcrr mcrc speculative conab.nn-
ttons baAc1l Oh the fnct Of tbs existence OF an
ut>a,,sios,ed rtver-bcsl ut certain points OF tho
plutGau Of tst-urt, lytng bctWeel tic two great
iulaid seaa l!ln ull bed Ut The Oxus, accor.3-
ing to klepert, belongs to geology and not to
history, as shown l,y Tue Rhsut!cc Of all traces Of
a,''e1tor ei7i!!zato alsur the lne of Gen. steb
completely restoring tue anctcnt bed ovcr 34u
miles OF desert plateau wol,lh orcrtasS the re-
sources Of the rfct,cst Stnte, it Was thought, aud
the o,,ly practical 1nctl.od by which Russian COM
Central Asa vas decided ta bu tho construction
ot q. railroad butwecu the two seus. On tle o,l
OF harch lust, however, Col. Petroussey!tol
rcai paper hctorp tie 1sussan Ieor1nut,lcal
Soc!rtv OH hls exploration OF the AMou.Darya
froul ChaFdjui III lsoklara to fts uclta w,ld on ts
former htds, IN WnIth hu DECLARED tlat he hail
ievelIngo OF the country, tlIat te turnt1tg ut thu
waters af the Amu-DarSa into the SArdKamysh
depression thrOlEti onu OF tho f0tular '1sd&
wHM3d nort' meet with great dttt1caltics. TAiau
depression betn!:, however, very "tte ntnl dAtp.-
the watcrs OF the Alnti River, ouce arrived llerc
wouta for,a great lake. and 1t would E0 din.
cult to direct tI.sut further to the Caspian. For
this last rcason It would t,e better 10 open way
former beds, which run southeast IRON tbs
Lake Saru-kntnysll. AL cxploratlons mnlsr II
very probable that In tt,ts war tic Allu-Daryn
eo Sasilr Tsns ths h. casn!a y"n i is r not
were brought bnck to It's old bed fron, Kara
gntrt, MI t1ie war tn krasnovoasls BAY tho
stream waultl he naygal'le from thu Casplan up
wuris, hgt 1lle conversion o. luz uxus into It's
Of SAUL nll rIialjlu ttle Kussaus tn uasrh frou
krasnovot!sk To klfya by u route not niuru than
ti0 Miles III 1cngth, ACsosR desert Which they
hive hitherto, fnr wns,t Df watcr. bccu unable u
truyersc in uny lurgr f0ret.
According tu CuI. AIarkAsotTs Investigation In
1873, frau lic,nl tu houtlla-O -Ourguelltvt nhirty-
eight ,nlirs) the prcsent l;itur Lnudan viii nf-
fer II sufficiently regular communication wien
tllr llnuts Ut Bend arc taken down. Hero ho-
ctns tllr nlu he'd Of tl.e river, known as tho
OusDot, which from time to titne ta iitlcl With
watcr MS fur as the lakes Of sara.isatNysl NCrty
rnIIcsl. after having divided Into two brnnches
which meet again at tle wells of Tcharicllli.
In tilt scco,i half Of this kcetinn tho rlycr's
he4 caN hardly t'e TRACED TIL thu pntp Ut moving
a;.nIs From 1'cnarrhli to the wells Of fgly
[srypnty-fIvu sles) The bed fro tina 70 TING IL
clearly visible aud from lgdyto tie lsaIkan Hay
(kFasnuyMlsE), distance Of about fSs ntlrs, II
from twenty tn tweuly-tiro mutres 4eep, and III
sonle plarcs 1,tN0 metres {say. t00 YefIs) wide.
In this s.retc! thrru aru fnnut few wel1s Of
ircsli water, anil ncar thu CASPIAN n,lI tho Aral
pools.