The sun., 1898-12-18

afterward murdered. Carey crossed the Allyn
tagh, the Chamen-tagh. and the uninhabited
plateau between these two ranges OF noun
tains before he was able to reach the Kwen-lun
proper and the Tibetan highlands. He passed
over these chains at q point rather more to the
west than that chosen by Prievalsky. and after
! ward intersected Prjevalsky's route on the
plateau between the Chamen-tagh and the
Kwen-lun mountains. Carey subsequently pro-
ceeded to the east along the foot OF the
| Kwen-lun. won't short distance between this
| range and the Koko-shili and crossed the pill
| grim road from Mongolia to Jassa, immedi-
| ately south OF the point where 1t climbs over o
pass in the Kwen-lun Mountains. At the river
Ma-chu he turned northward and traversed o
portion Of AXIS route. This journey took
place in 18S5-87. We note finally that Capt.
Younghusband, whose name Is well known for
| his travels in the Pamirs, travelled In 1888
from Pekin via Barkul. Ak-su and Kashgar to
| India, and Capt. Bower between June. 1891.
and March. 1892. crossed Tibet and China
from Leh to Shanghai.
| ".
| Such had been the record OF exploration In
Central Asia when Mr.. Sven Hedin's expedition
started in 1893. Among the great problems
| that still waited solution in the interior of
| Asia. enumerated in a preliminary letter to the
| King OF Sweden, were the discovery OF new
| chains Of mountains lakes, and rivers, OF the
traces OF an ancient civilization and OF an
| tiquities which might throw light on the great
migrations of races through Asia; the identi-
| fcation OF old. disused caravan roads. and,
| ultimately. the mapping of an entirely unknown
| region. In the same memorial it was pointed
| out that in the Asiatic highlands the
| geologist had unique opportunities of study
| ing phenomena Of the greatest possible In
| terest. interesting not only on account Of the
processes OF evolution which the mountain
chains are actually undergoing there. but also
| for the reason that those mountain chains are
so little known. The table land of Tibet rises
like an enormous platform above the low lands
OF Hindustan on the one side and the desert OF
the Tarim Basin on the other. the latter being
one OF the lowest depressons in the interior OF
any continent Lake Lop-nor has an absolute
altitude of not more than $500 feet. and at
Luk-tchin. south of Turfan. depression has
been found which actually lies considerable
distance below the level Of the sea. While the
older geographers and discoverers bestowed
their attention upon little else save the
Typographical appearance. or. at most,
the surface elevations OF a country,
modern geographical science claims from its
surveyors trustworthy knowledge Of the origi-
nal causes Of the present condition Of the sur
face Of the earth and the genetic connection.
origin. age and relation Of the mountain
chains to each other. Another problem Of in
tense interest was the Lop-nor question, raised
by Baron Won Richthofen. who insisted that
the water OF the basin into which the Tarim
emptes. must be saline. inasmuch as
the Tarim contains greater quantity
OF salt than almost any other large
river in the world. Prjevalsky. however,
had reported that the last basin or reservoir Of
the Tarm was fresh water lake. Mr.. Hedin
conjectured that the explanation would proba-
bly, be found to be that, in addition to tho fresh
water lake visited by Prievalsky. there is an
other largo lake which is saline. and into which
an arm Of the Tarim debouches.
Instead Of making one continuous journey
as he had originally intended. Mr.. Hedin found
it eIpedient to undertake several expeditions
from a common starting point. Thus. after
crossing the Pamirs. in the winter and spring
Of 1894. he employed the summer and autumn
for new journey into the east and middle
Pamirs. Kashgar being his point Of departure
In the spring and summer Of 1895 hetIayersed
the Takla- makan desert and the north of east
Turkestan; and. finally. in the summer and au-
tumn Of the same year he made q third excur-
sion into the southern Pamirs. In the same
way. he subsequently made Khotan base
OF operations. leaving that place in the Begin
ming Of 1896 for long journey around east
quilted Khotan in the end OF June. 1896. that
he really burned his boats behind him. cutting
OF all connection with the west until ,he
reached Pekin. The substitution OF separate
excursions for single continuous journey
involved. OF course. some lossIof time. but the
results were larger. and. after each expedition,
thanks to the Russian post. the explorer was
able TO send home his collections from Kash-
gar or Khotan. We may here mention that the
cost Of the four years travel. including that OF
instruments and equipment. amounted to
rather less than $4,000.
Among the many remarkable discoveries and
observations chronicled in these capacious vol
umes we have selected for special reference the
| account Of a long g-buried city In the Takla-
makan Desert. the western prolongation OF the
| sand waste OF Cobb. None of the other ruins
which Mr.. Hedin visited In eastern Turkestan
resemble in the least these curious remains.
AS a rule. the survlvals Of ancient towns In that
region consist of walls and towers OF sun -drled,
or. at least, burned clay In the sand-swamped
city. which itself bears the name OF Taka-
makan. all the houses were built of wood
tpoplar): not a single trace of a stone
or clay house WAS discernibe. They were
also constructed in quite a different way
Although the ground plan In many respects
resembled that OF the modern houses most of
the dwellings were built In the shape OF a small
square or oblong within larger one. and di-
vided into several small rooms. The only por-
tions that survive are posts. to 10 feet high
and pointed at the top, worn away by wind and
sand. cracked and hard. but as brittle as glass.
breaking readily when struck. We are told
that excavqting In dry sand is desperate work;
as fast as You dig out the sand 1t runs In again
and fills up the holes. Each sand dune. must
be completely removed before 1t will entirely
give up the secrets TINT lie hidden be-
meath 1t, and that is task beyond human
power. Nevertheless. Mr.. Hedin succeeded
In making sufficient number OF discoveries
to obtain general idea OF the character Of the
ancient city. Even in the section excayated
there were hundreds OF ruined houses But he
was unable to make out the ground plan OF the
city. nor could he trace the streets. bazaars
and squares. because the whole OF the site,
which occupies an extensive area from two to
two and half miles in diameter. was buried
under high sand dunes. In one OF tho build