Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1924-05-07


ciety. Washington. D. c.
BY degrees the veil-in this case,
many feet of sand-is being drawn
away from the mysterious region of
Central Asia whence some authorities
assert came the ancestors of the peo-
pies of all continents. AS the sand Is
dug or blown from ruined cities and
temples, history is being pushed far
Their and farther back and there is be-
Ing disclosed evidences of the high de-
gree of civilization and culture that
existed in this mountain and desert
girt region thousands of years ago.
Perhaps the most fascinating and
the most mysterious of these central
Asian regions is the Lop or Tarim
Basin, north Of Tibet, which constf-
tutes the heart of eastern or Chinese
Turkestan. The entire central portion
of the basin is desert but around it's rim
between it and the mountains that
almost encircle it, is string OF GASES
that have figured prominently in his
tory. In these GASES today are towns
whose names at least are familiar:
Yarkand, Kashgar, Khotan, and many
smaller ones to the north, less known
but locally important.
1t is only within the last half cen
fury that the West has become pass
ably well acquainted with the Lop
basin; but medieval Europe had Mum
chausen-like tales of the region in the
celebrated letters of Prester John, a
more or less mythical character, who
was represented to be a powerful
Christian emperor living in central
Asia. In one Of the letters it is stated
that: Among other things which are
very wonderful in our country is a
sea Of sand without water For the
sand moves and swells in waves in the
manner of all seas, and is never still
This sea cannot be crossed either by
boat or by any other method, and Of
what sort the land may be beyond it
no one can know. And although water
is absent entirely, nevertheless there
are found on the shore on our side
many kinds of fish more delicious and
sweet-tasting than are ever seen any
where else" Other wonders are re-
lated Of the same region. For in
stance: Unto the Sandy sea itself
flows, three days Of the week, a river
of stones without water, impossible
while it's flow continues. Beyond 1t
lies another river, whose sands are
mere precious stones; or sometimes
this River of Gems flows through the
Sandy sea, and is indeed the Sabbatic
river, flowing six days and resting the
seventh, which keeps the ten tribes of
the Children of Israel from crossing
into the land of Prester John. And in
one part of the desert where the sea
lies is a people with round feet, like
horses hoofs; and in another part Is
the land Of Femenye ITSELF" a land
where none but women dwell, and they
are very stark and cruel"; and no
man dare bide mere than an hour.
Old Tales Not Far From Truth.
Strange as these stories sound, they
are only slight perversions of the
truth. During a recent visit to the
Lop basin facts were observed which
may perhaps explain all Of them. For
instance, when first one sees Chinese
women Of high class their diminutive
feet are strangely suggestive of the
hoofS Of animals. AS to the fable of
the land of Femenye, there Is nothing
now to give rise to it directly. Marco
Polo relates, however, that in his day
In the region of Hami, not many hun
dred miles from Lop-Nor, none but
women were found in the villages
when caravans arrived. The men de-
parted In order that the travellers
might be more comfortable, and might
be the more ready to pay for enter
tainment. Even today the people Of
Hami possess customs which seem to
be Renaissance of the ancient habit.
The Lop basin, In the very center OF
Asia, is a great depression, $4,000
miles long from east TO west and 400
wide Around it lies a ring Of lofty
plateaus from 10000 to 10000 feet
high. At their base is a ring of pied
mont gravel, almost destitute of life,
and sloping gently inward like huge
beach from to 40 miles wide. Then
comes another ring, the zone of vega
ton, where alone there are plants and
an opportunity for human inhabitants
other than the few nomads OF the
plateaus. Finally within the zone of
vegetation lies vast desert area about
1000 miles long and $50 wide. It's
western quarters consist of a
geritable sea of sand, the Takla-Kakan
desert, yellow or gray on the edges,
pink In the inner portions. Row after
row of almost impossible sand dunes
has been piled up by the wind to
heights of full 500 feet in places The
smallest dunes often move forward