Abstract
AT an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Geographical Society on October 14, General Pevtsoff made his report about the Tibet Expedition, of which he was the commander after the death of Przewalsky. Having crossed the main Tianshan ridge by the Bedel Pass, the Expedition went southwards, through an extremely narrow gorge of the Kara-teke ridge. In some places the gorge has only the width of 30 to 35 feet, while its walls are 700 feet high. The first Kashgarian village reached was Kalpyn, whence the travellers went to Yarkend. From Yarkend they moved on the great Khotan high-road into the northern spurs of the Kuen-lun. There they stayed for some forty days, at a height of 10,000 feet above the sea, at Tokhtahon, collecting many interesting plants and birds, while the geologist of the expedition, M. Bogdanovitch, made a long excursion into the region between the Yarkend-daria and the Tyznan Rivers. On September 13 they left the highlands, and after a three weeks' journey arrived at the Khotan oasis, the population of which (120,000) are skilful in the manufacture of carpets, felts, silks, and so on. From Khotan they went to Keria, and next to Niya, where they left their superfluous luggage, and whence they started to explore the Kuen-lun, in order to try to find a good pass to Tibet. The pass was found at the sources of the Tillan-hadji stream, not far from the Minjilinkhanum monastery. It proved to be quite available both for horses and camels. The winter was spent at Niya. On May 7, the work of exploration was resumed, and next week the Expedition reached the Kara-sai village. Followed by two men only, M. Roborovsky went up the Saryk-tuz Pass (discovered during the preceding autumn), and attained the sources of the Keriyadaria on the Tibet plateau. Its altitude proved to be there 16,500 feet, and its surface was an absolute desert. The want of food for the horses compelled M. Roborovsky soon to return to Kara-sai. He soon made a second attempt at further exploration, but, after having marched some 50 miles southwards on the plateau, he was again compelled to return. During the same time, M. Kozloff went across the border-ridge, following for some 100 miles the Bastan-tigrak River. He passed by Lake Dashi-kul and went up the river which flows into the lake from the east, through a wild desert, 14,000 feet above the sea. He also was soon compelled to return to Kara-sai. The next attempt was made by all three explorers together, accompanied by four Russians and a few natives. They went up the Aksu River, and soon were on a plateau, 15,000 feet high and almost quite devoid of vegetation. Terrible snow-storms were raging in the first days of July. The only mammals seen were two antelopes, and the only bird met with was a lark. Finding no food for the horses, the Expedition had nothing to do but to return to Kara-sai. Thence they started for Tchertchen, and at Atchan they were rejoined by M. Bogdanovitch, who had explored in the meantime the geological structure of the two passes of Saryktuz and Aksu. After a short stay at Mandalyk, where good grazing-grounds were found, and the horses recovered, the Expedition crossed again the Kuen-lun viâ the Muzluk Pass (15,500 feet high), and after having crossed it they divided into two parties, one of which, under M. Roborovsky, went south-east, and the other, under General Pevtsoff, moved southwards, up the little River Uluk-su, which is the source of the Tchertchen-daria. They soon came to an immense chalky mountain ridge, which rose to about 20,000 feet in the south, while a wide valley stretched south-westwards between that ridge and the Kuen-lun. The party stopped at the foot of this ridge, at a small lake, Yamil-kul. From some natives who were engaged in gold-mining in a gorge of the ridge, they learned that its name is Akkatai, and that its summits are covered with perpetual snow. The party did not proceed further, and from Yamil-kul they returned to Mandalyk, and thence began their journey to Lob-nor, which journey took no less than one month. From Lob-nor the Expedition went up the Yarkend-daria, visiting on the way the great settlement of Kurla (4000 inhabitants), the fort of Karashar (10,800 inhabitants in the fort and the oasis), and the town Uruntchi, situated at the foot of the Tian-shan, and residence of the Governor-General of West China. On their way to the Russian frontier the travellers visited also the oasis of Sa-tsan, peopled by Chinese, and crossed the Malas River as well as the desert Khatyn-ula. On January 15, 1891, they entered the Russian post of Zaisan.
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The Tibet Expedition . Nature 45, 45 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/045045a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/045045a0