Beverly banner. [volume] (Beverly, N.J.) 1877-1964, 1925-05-15
Cf}(NESE
TURKEST


Ia latest country to attract an.
American scientific and big
game hunting expedition, is
| with the possible exception of Tibet,
the most inaccessible region of con-
siderable extent outside the frigid
zones. Tibet is a huge lofty plateau
| from which rises range after range of
mountains. 1t is this huge wide
| Tibetan mountain mass which blocks
! the road from the south to Chinese
| Turkestan. To the southwest is the
sea of high mountain peaks of the
Karagorum mountains on the northern
| Kashmir border. Due west lies "the
| Roof of the World" the famous Pamir
region; and from the Pamirs the Than
Shan range and its connecting links
to the Altai mountains sweep off to
the northeast separating the country
| from Russian Asia. Inside this major
barrier the Tian Shans curve round
enfoding Chinese Turkestan on the
north and almost completely walling
1t round with a rim of the worlds
loftiest mountains.
1t is only In the East that an open
| ing exists to Chinese Turkestan, and
that is across extensive desert regions.
dotted with low mountains. which ex-
tend off to China proper. Geography.
| then, has conspired to make this re-
| gion Chinese province, by effectual-
ly fencing it from the rest of the world
and by facing its one door toward
China; and this in spite of the fact
| that the great majority of its inhab-
itants are not and never have been
] Chinese.
| Chinese Turkestan is roughly 600
miles wide, north and south, and
something more than 1000 miles long,
east and west. Inside the mountain
walls the land slopes rapidly down to
what seems very low, level plain
which constitutes more than half Of
the $4,000 square miles of the coun-
try. Although more than 10000 feet
lower than the highest peaks that tow
err over 1t, this plain Is still several
thousand feet above sea level. Even
the LGp Nor, the salt marsh-lake into
which the greater part of the drain
age Of Chinese Turkestan finds its
way, lies 1876 feet above the sea.
Two hundred miles north of the Lop
| Nor is q small Asiatic death Valley"
33G feet below sea level Mus Tagh
Alta, highest of the country's peaks,
reaches a height of "a, 400 feet; so that
there is a vertical range of more than
four and a half miles.
Much Of 1t Is Desert.
The snow-clad mountains Of the
Pamir region and the Tlan Shans send
down great quantities of water which
forms the Tarim river, Chinese Tur-
kestan's one great drainage system.
Beginning in the southwest this river
flows near the western and northern
rim of the great plain, picking up adj
dlttonal streams and torrents in its
| progress, and finally empties into the
Lop Nor near the eastern edge of the
country. The heart of Chinese Turke-
stan, within the arc of the Tarim, is
great desolate desert, the Takla
Makan, uninhabitable and seldom
penetrated. Since the beginning of
history important towns have existed
along the northern and western rim
of the country-through which con-
tart with the East Is maintained.
Araolg the more important of these
! RE some well known by name even to
| those unfamiliar with Chinese Turke-
stan such as Yarkand, Kashgar and
ABsu.
On the south side of the Takla
Makan desert numerous streams flow
from the great Tibetan mountain
rampant Most of these streams never
enter the Tarim drainage system, but
lose themselves in the desert. One,
the Khotan river, reaches the Tarim
in Zines of flood, but at other seasons
comes to an end in the greedy sands
many miles short of the big river. AS
on the northern and western rims of
the desert, GASES dot the southern rim,
their lands irrigated from the many
smSl streams that flow from the
| moHntains on the border of Tibet. In
this southern group of GASES, Khotan
is The most important and the most
famous city.
The great majority of the inhabit-
ants of Chinese Turkestan are mix
ture of Aryans and central Aslatic
Turks. The country is simply con-
quered province of China and there
are only enough Chinese to hold the
most important official positions, TO
garrison the chief cities, and to con-
troll certain lines of trade. Although
the Chinese have been in control off
and on for many centuries the people
have never adopted the Chinese tongue
nor have the officials learned the
Jagatai Turkish language most gen.
orally spoken All Chinese officials
are provided with interpreters,
To the Chinese, East Turkestan Is
Sinkiang, or 1.-THE New Province" a
name which advertises the westward
extension of Chinese conquest many
centuries ago Sinkiang embraces also
~