Chapter XVIII: Part 18

_Western Kuen-lun._--On the east the Pamir highlands are fenced off
from the East Turkestan lowlands by the double border-ridge of
Sarik-kol (the Sarik-kol range and the Muztagh or Kashgar range),
which has its eastern foot down in the Tarim basin (4000-4500 ft.) and
its western up on the Pamirs at 10,500 to 13,000 ft. above sea-level,
while its own summits, e.g. the Muztagh-ata (25,780 ft.), shoot up far
above the limits of perpetual snow. This double border-ridge is
continued east of the meridian of Yarkand or Yarkent (77° E.) by a
succession of twin ranges, all running, though under different names,
from the W.N.W. to the E.S.E. According to the investigations of F.
Stoliczka and K. Bogdanovich, the same fossils occur in both sets of
border ranges, in the Sarik-kol and in their eastward continuations,
e.g. corals, _Stromatophorae_, _Bryozoa_, _Atrypa reticularis_, _A.
latilinguis_ and _A. aspera_, _Spirifer verneuili_, &c., and these the
latter geologist assigns to the Devonian epoch. These eastward
continuations of the double border-range of the Pamirs are the
constituent ranges of the Kuen-lun proper. The names given to them are
the Kilian or Kiliang, the Khotan and the Keriya Mountains in the more
northerly range and the Raskem or Raskan, the Sughet and the
Ullugh-tagh Mountains in the more southerly range. Although they all
decrease in altitude from west to east, they nevertheless reach
elevations of 19,000 ft., with individual peaks ascending some
2000-2500 ft. higher. From the East Turkestan lowlands on the north
the ascent is very steep, and the passes across both sets of ranges
lie at great altitudes; for example, the pass of Sanju-davan in the
lower range is 16,325 ft. above sea-level, and the Kyzyl-davan,
farther east, is 16,900 ft., while the Sughet-davan in the higher
range is 17,825 ft. The latter range is separated from the Karakorum
Mountains by the deeply trenched gorge of the Raskem or Yarkand-darya,
while the deep glen of the Kara-kash or Khotan-darya intervenes
between the upper (Sughet Mountains) and the lower (Kilian Mountains)
border-ranges. Altogether this western extremity of the Kuen-lun
system is a very rugged mountainous region, a consequence partly of
the intricacy of the flanking ranges and spurs, partly of the powerful
lateral compression to which they have been subjected, and partly of
the great and abrupt differences in vertical elevation between the
crests of the ranges and the bottoms of the deep, narrow, rugged glens
between them. In the broad orographical disposition of the ranges
there is considerable similarity between north Tibet and west Persia,
in that in both cases the ranges are crowded together in the west, but
spread out wider as they advance towards the east. To the two
principal ranges in this part of the system F. Grenard, who
accompanied J. L. Dutreuil de Rhins on his journey in 1890-1895, gives
the names the Altyn-tagh and Ustun-tagh, though he names no less than
six parallel ranges altogether. Now as Altyn-tagh[2] is an accepted,
though in point of fact erroneous, name for Astin-tagh, it is clear
that Grenard considers the main Kuen-lun ranges to be continued
directly by the Astin-tagh.

From the transverse breach of the Keriya-darya (about 81½° E.) to that
of the Kara-muren in the longitude of Cherchen (about 85½° E.) the
parallel border-ranges of the Tibetan plateau trend to the E.N.E., and
here occur in the lower or outer range the passes of Dalai-kurghan-art
(14,290 ft.), Choka-davan, i.e. Littledale's Chokur Pass (9530 ft.)
and others at altitudes ranging from 8600 to 11,500 ft., while in the
upper range are the At-to-davan (16,600 ft.), Yapkak-lik-davan (15,550
ft.), Sarshu-davan (15,680 ft.) and others not named at 16,590 and
17,300 ft.

_Middle Kuen-lun._--Between the upper transverse glens of the
Kara-muren (or Mitt River) and the Cherchen-darya stretches the short
range of Tokuz-davan. From it, on the east side of the Cherchen-daryt,
in about 86° E., the component ranges of the middle Kuen-lun begin to
diverge and radiate outwards (i.e. to north and to south) like the
fingers of the outspread human hand. And here at least four principal
ranges or groups of ranges admit of being discriminated, namely the
Astin-tagh, the Chimen-tagh, the Kalta-alaghan and the Arka-tagh, all
belonging to the mountainous country which borders on the north the
actual plateau region of Tibet. Although these several ranges, or
systems of ranges, differ considerably in their orographical
characteristics, the following description will apply generally to the
entire region from the Astin-tagh southwards to the Arka-tagh. The
broad features of the surface configuration are a series of nearly
parallel mountain-ranges, running from W.S.W. E.N.E. to W.N.W. E.S.E.,
and separated by high intermont valleys, which are choked with
disintegrated material and divided into a chequered pattern of
self-contained, shallow lacustrine basins. As a rule the crests of the
ranges are worn down by aerial denudation and have the general
appearance of rounded domes. Hard rock (mostly granite and crystalline
schists, with red sandstone in places) appears only in the transverse
glens, which are often choked with their débris in the form either of
gravel-and-shingle or loose blocks of stone or both. The flanks of the
mountains are so deeply buried in disintegrated material that the
difference in vertical altitude between the floors of the valleys and
the summits of the ranges is comparatively small. But as each
successive range, proceeding south, represents a higher step in the
terraced ascent from the desert of Gobi to the plateau of Tibet, the
ranges when viewed from the north frequently appear like veritable
upstanding mountain ranges, and this appearance is accentuated by the
general steepness of the ascent; whereas, when viewed on the other
hand from the south, these several ranges, owing to their long and
gentle slope in that direction, have the appearance of comparatively
gentle swellings of the earth's surface rather than of well-defined
mountain ranges. As a rule, the streams flow alternately east and west
down the intermont latitudinal valleys, until they break through some
transverse glen in the range on the northern side of the valley. In
the western parts of the system they mostly go to feed the Kara-muren
or the Cherchen-darya, while farther east they flow down into some
larger self-contained basin of internal drainage, such as the
Achik-kol, the two lakes Kara-kol, or the Ghaz-kol, and even yet
farther east make their way, some of them into the lakes of the
Tsaidam depression or become lost in its sands or in those of the
Kum-tagh desert on the north, or go to feed the headstreams of the
great rivers, the Hwang-ho (Yellow River) and the Yangtsze-kiang (Blue
River) in the south. It appears to be a rule that the rivers which
eventually terminate in the deserts of Gobi and Takla-makan grow
increasingly larger in magnitude from east to west. Another law
appears to distinguish the hydrography of at any rate the great
latitudinal valleys of the Arka-tagh and the Chimen valley (north of
the Chimen-tagh): the streams flow close under the foot of the range
that shuts in each individual valley on the north. But in respect of
precipitation there is a very marked difference between the valleys of
the north and those of the south. Whereas both the mountains and
valleys of the Astin-tagh and of the Akato-tagh (the next large range
to the Astin-tagh on the south) are arid and desolate in the extreme,
smitten as it were with the desiccating breath of the desert, those of
the Arka-tagh and beyond are supersaturated with moisture, so that, at
any rate in summer, the surface is in many parts little better than a
quaking quagmire. Throughout vegetation is scanty and faunal life poor
in species, though in some respects certain of the species, e.g. wild
yaks, wild asses (_kulans_), antelopes (_orongo_ and others), marmots,
hares and partridges exist locally in large numbers. The wild camel
approaches the north outliers of the Astin-tagh, but rarely, if ever,
ventures to enter their fastnesses. Bears, wolves, foxes, goats
(_kökmet_), wild sheep (_arkharis_), lizards, earth-rats, and a small
rodent (_teshikan_), with ravens, eagles, wild ducks and wild geese
are the other varieties principally encountered. The vegetation
consists almost entirely of scrubby bushes of several varieties,
including tamarisks and wild briers, of reeds (_kamish_), and of grass
on the _yaylaks_ (pasture-grounds) of the middle ranges. On the
Arka-tagh even the moss, the last surviving representative of the
flora, disappears entirely. In the eastern Astin-tagh a variety of
wild tea (_chay_, mountain tea) is used by the Mongols. Gold is
obtained in very small quantities in a few places in the Astin-tagh
and the Kalta-alaghan. The nomenclature of the numerous ranges in this
part of the Kuen-lun is extremely confusing, owing to different
travellers having applied the same name to different ranges and to
different travellers have applied different names to what is probably
often identically the same range. In this article the nomenclature
adopted is that employed by the latest, and probably the most
thorough, explorer of this part of Central Asia, namely, Sven Hedin.
Nevertheless, owing to the fact that nearly all the longer and more
important crossings of Tibet and its northern montane region have been
made from north to south, or vice versa, that is, transversely across
the ranges, and comparatively few from east to west along the
intermont latitudinal valleys, the identifications between ranges in
the east and ranges in the west are in more than one instance more or
less doubtful.

The _Astin-tagh_, although it occupies a similar position to the twin
ranges of the Western Kuen-lun, in that it forms the outermost
escarpment or border-ridge on the north of the Tibetan plateau, would
appear in the opinion of the most competent judges (e.g. Grenard,
Bogdanovich, Sven Hedin, Przhevalsky), to be only a branch or
subsidiary range of the main range of the Kuen-lun. It is not however
a single, long, continuous chain, as it is shown, for example, on the
map of the Russian general staff, but consists of two parallel main
ranges, and in the east of three, and even to the N.E. of Tsaidam of
four, parallel main ranges, flanked throughout by several subsidiary
chains, spurs and offshoots. Beyond that it swells out into the vast
_massif_ of Anambaruin-ula, which is traversed by at least three minor
parallel chains. But on the east of the Anambaruin-ula it once more
contracts to two main ranges, the more southerly being that which
Przhevalsky called the Humboldt Range (crossed by a pass at 13,200
ft.). This branch is probably continued in the range which overhangs
the Koko-nor on the south, namely, the south Koko-nor Range. The
northern branch merges eastwards into the Nan-shan or Southern
Mountains.[3] The passes in the Lower Astin-tagh range from altitudes
of 10,150 to 10,700 ft., and in the Upper Astin-tagh at 11,770 to
15,680 ft. (Tash-davan), though one pass beside the Charkhlik-su is
only 9660 ft. high. And as the relative altitudes of crest and pass
remain approximately the same as in the Western Kuen-lun, it is
evident how greatly the general elevation of the twin border ridge
decreases towards the east. But there exists a striking difference
between the crests of the Astin-tagh and those of the ranges which
give rise to the gigantic ridge and furrow arrangement on the Tibetan
plateau. "Here in the Astin-tagh the mountains, like those in the
Kuruk-tagh,[4] are indeed severely weathered, but they always consist,
from base to summit, of hard rock, bare and barren, most frequently
piled up in eccentric, rugged masses, denticulated, pinnacled crests
and peaks. On the Tibetan plateau, on the other hand, most of the
ranges are distinguished by their rounded outlines and soft
consistency, and their striking poverty in hard rock, which in the
best cases only crops out near the summits. There too disintegration
has been to a remarkable extent operative. This gives rise to the
great morphological difference, that in the former regions, the
Astin-tagh and the Kuruk-tagh, the products of disintegration are
almost always carried away by the wind, and so disappear; no matter
how powerful or how active the disintegration may be, none of the
loosened material ever succeeds either in gathering amongst the
mountains or in accumulating at their foot. The climate is so arid,
and precipitation so extremely rare, that the fine powdery material
falls a helpless prey to the winds. On the other hand, the
precipitation on the Tibetan plateau is so copious, and so uniformly
distributed, that it is able to retain the loosened material _in
situ_, and causes it to heap itself up in rounded masses on the flanks
of the mountains that are its primitive source of origin, these
projecting in great part like skeletons from the midst of their own
ruins."[5] The twin ranges of the Astin-tagh are fairly equivalent in
point of magnitude and regularity; but while the Lower Range, on the
north, sensibly decreases in altitude towards the east, the Upper
Range, on the south, maintains its general altitude in a remarkable
way, and is gapped by steep, wild, deeply incised transverse glens
directed towards the north, and generally fenced in by dark
precipitous walls of rock. The great valley between the two is "cut up
into a series of self-contained basins, each serving as the gathering
ground of the brooks that run down off the adjacent mountains. Outside
the lower end of each large transverse glen there is a scree of
sedimentary matter. These screes are however very flat and their lower
edges generally reach all the way down to the central part of the
basin, which is occupied by an expanse of yellow clay, perfectly flat
and fairly hard, as well as dry and barren, often cracked into
polygonal cakes and drawn out in the direction of the long axis of the
valley.... But though the great morphological features of this
latitudinal valley forcibly recall the latitudinal valleys of Tibet,
the climatic differences give rise to differences between the basins
corresponding to the differences between the mountain-ranges
themselves. For while the self-contained basins of Tibet generally
possess a salt lake in the middle, into which brooks and streams of
greater or less magnitude gather, often from very considerable
distances, these self-contained basins of the Astin-tagh are very
small in area, and it is extremely seldom that their central parts
receive any water at all, only in fact after copious rain. These
terminal lakes, or more accurately sedimentary plains, are therefore
almost always dry."[6]

The next parallel range on the south, the _Akato-tagh_, and the valley
which separates it from the Astin-tagh, are equally arid and
waterless. The valley, known by the general name of Kakir, meaning a
"hard, dry, sterile expanse of clay," is chequered with shallow
self-contained basins of the usual type and has remarkably gentle
slopes up to the mountains on both north and south. Its surface
slopes from altitudes of 10,100 to 10,600 ft. in the west, where is
the lake of Uzunshor (9650 ft.) to 9400 ft. in the east, in which
direction it continues as far as the Anambaruin-ula (see below) and
the plain or flat basin of Särtäng, a north extension of Tsaidam. This
range of Akato-tagh, the Altun Range of Carey, is the same as that
which on the map of the Russian general staff bears the name
Chimen-tagh. Like the Astin-tagh it stretches towards the E.N.E., and,
like it, appears to be built up of granite and schists, but its crest
is greatly denuded, so that it is a mere crumbling skeleton protruding
above the deep mantle of disintegrated material which masks its
flanks. The slopes on both north and south are extremely gentle, but
that on the south is eight to ten times as long as that on the north.
In the east the range is mostly narrow, and dies away on the edge of
the Tsaidam depression; but in the west it swells out into the lofty
and imposing mass of the Ilve-chimen or Shia-manglay, which is capped
with perpetual snow. This part of the range is crossed by the pass of
Chopur-alik at an altitude of 16,160 ft., but farther east the passes
lie at altitudes of 13,380 to 10,520 ft. The latitudinal valley that
intervenes between the Akato-tagh and the next great range on the
south, the Chimen-tagh, slopes for the most part eastwards, from
12,500 ft. down to the shallow salt lake of Ghaz-kol or Chimen-koli
(9305 ft.). In the western part of this valley occurs the very
important transverse water-divide of Gulcha-davan (14,150 ft.), which
separates the basin of the Cherchen-darya that goes down into the
Tarim basin from the area that drains down to the Ghaz-kol, which
belongs to the Tsaidam depression. This, the Chimen valley, contains
in places a good deal of drift-sand, which however is stationary in
the mass and heaped up along the northern foot of the Chimen-tagh.
Nevertheless the Akato-tagh is only of secondary importance in the
general Kuen-lun system, being nothing more than a central ridge
running along the broad Kakir valley that separates the Astin-tagh
from the Chimen-tagh.

The latter range, the _Chimen-tagh_, is identical in its western parts
with the Piazlik-tagh and in the east must be equated with the Tsaidam
chain of Przhevalsky; and it is probably continued westwards by the
range which the Russian explorers call the Moscow Range or the
Achik-tagh, running north of the Achik-kol and, according to
Przhevalsky, connecting on the west with the Tokuz-davan. The
Chimen-tagh rises into imposing summits, some rounded, some pyramidal
in outline, which are capped with snow, though the snow melts in
summer. This range acts as a "breakwater" to the clouds, arresting and
condensing the moisture which is carried northwards by the south
winds. Hence its slopes are not so arid as those of the Akato-tagh and
the Astin-tagh. Snow falls all the year round on the Chimen-tagh, even
in July, and water is abundant everywhere. The southern slope of the
range is gentle but short, the northern slope long and steep. Grass is
able to grow, and animal life is more abundant. The range is crossed
by passes at 13,970, 13,230 and 13,760 ft., and the Piazlik-tagh by a
pass at an altitude of 13,640 ft.

The next important range, still going south, is the _Kalta-alaghan_,
Carey's Chimen-tagh Range, Przhevalsky's Columbus Range and the range
which is variously designated (e.g. by Pyevtsov) as the Ambal-ashkan,
Kalga-lagan and Ara-tagh. This last is, however, properly the name of
a short secondary range which rises along the middle (_ara_ = middle)
of the valley between the Chimen-tagh and the Kalta-alaghan. Not only
is it of lower elevation than them both, but it dies away towards the
west, the valleys on each side of it meeting round its extremity to
form one broad, open valley, with an altitude of 11,790 to 13,725 ft.
The Ara-tagh is crossed by a pass at an altitude of 14,345 ft. In the
Kalta-alaghan, which is the culminating range of this part of the
Kuen-lun, and is overtopped by towering, snow-clad peaks, the passes
climb to considerably higher altitudes, namely, 14,560, 14,470, 14,430
and 14,190 ft., while the pass of Avraz-davan ascends to 15,700 ft.
This range appears to be linked on to the Tokuz-davan by the
Muzluk-tagh, in which there are passes at 16,870 and 15,450 ft. It is
possible however that the Muzluk-tagh belongs more intimately to the
Chimen-tagh system, that is, to the Moscow or Achik-kol ranges, Indeed
Bogdanovich considers that the Tokuz-davan, the Muzluk-tagh, the
Moscow Range and the Chimen-tagh form one single closely connected
chain, in which he also places Przhevalsky's isolated peak of Mount
Kreml (15,055 ft.). Sven Hedin, whilst agreeing that this may possibly
be the true conception, inclines to the view that the Achik-kol Range
dies away towards the E., and that the Chimen-tagh and the
Kalta-alaghan merge westwards into the border-ranges that lie north of
the Muzluk-tagh and the Tokuz-davan. Unlike most of the other parallel
ranges of N. Tibet, the Kalta-alaghan does not decrease, but it
increases in elevation towards the east, where, like the Chimen-tagh,
it abuts upon and merges in the ranges that border Tsaidam on the
south.

Immediately south of the Kalta-alaghan comes a relatively deep
depression, the _Kum-kol valley_, forming a very well-marked feature
in the physical conformation of this region. It is crossed
transversely by a water-divide which separates the basin of the
twin-lakes of Kum-kol (12,700 ft.) from the basin of Tsaidam, some
3500 ft. lower. The floor of the valley consequently slopes away in
both directions, like the Chimen valley between the Akato-tagh and the
Chimen-tagh; and in so far as it slopes westwards towards the Kum-kol
lakes it differs from nearly all the other great latitudinal valleys
that run parallel with it, because they slope generally towards the
east. Not far from the Kum-kol lakes there is a drift-sand area,
though the dunes are stationary. The upper lake of Kum-kol
(Chon-kum-kol) (12,730 ft.), which contains fresh water, is of small
area (8 sq. m.) and in depth nowhere exceeds 13 ft.; but the lower
lake (Ayak-kum-kol) (12,685 ft.), which is salt, is much bigger (283
sq. m.) and goes down to depths of 64 and 79 ft. Farther west, lying
between the Muzluk-tagh and the Arka-tagh, is the lake of Achik-kol
(13,940 ft.), 16½ m. broad and 50 m. in circuit.

The next great parallel range is the lofty and imposing _Arka-tagh_,
the Przhevalsky Range of the Russian geographers, which has its
eastward continuations in the Marco Polo Range (general altitude
15,750-16,250 ft.) and Gurbu-naiji Mountains of Przhevalsky. The
Arka-tagh[7] is the true backbone of the Kuen-lun system, and in
Central Asia is exceeded in elevation only by the Tang-la, a long way
farther south, this last being probably an eastern wing of the
Karakorum Mountains of the Pamirs region. At the same time the
Arka-tagh is the actual border-range of the Tibetan plateau properly
so-called; to the south of it none of the long succession of lofty
parallel ranges which ridge the Tibetan highlands seems to have any
connexion with the Kuen-lun system. Of great length, the Arka-tagh,
which is a mountain-system rather than a range, varies greatly in
configuration in different parts, sometimes exhibiting a sharply
defined main crest, with several lower flanking ranges, and sometimes
consisting of numerous parallel crests of nearly uniform altitude.
Amongst these it is possible to distinguish in the middle of the
system four predominant ranges, of which the second from the north is
probably the principal range, though the fourth is the highest. The
passes across the first range (north) lie at altitudes of 15,675,
16,420, 17,320 and 18,300 ft.; across the second at 16,830, 17,020,
17,070 and 17,220 ft.; across the third at 16,800, 16,660, 17,065,
17,830 and 17,880 ft.; and across the fourth at 16,540, 16,765,
16,780, 18,100 and 18,110 ft. The crests of the ranges lie
comparatively little higher than the valleys which separate them, the
altitudes in the latter running at 14,940 to 16,700 ft., if not
higher, and being only 500 to 1000 ft. lower than the crests of the
accompanying ranges. The Arka-tagh ranges do not culminate in lofty
jagged, pinnacled peaks, but in broad rounded, flattened domes, a
characteristic feature of the system throughout. These Arka-tagh
mountains are built up, at all events superficially, of sand and
powdery, finely sifted disintegrated material. Where the hard rock
does crop out on the surface, it is so excessively weathered as to be
with difficulty recognized as rock at all. The culminating summits of
the ranges generally present the appearance of a flat, rounded
swelling, and when they are crowned with glaciers, as many of them
are, these shape themselves into what may be described as a mantle, a
breast-plate, or a flat cap, from which lappets and fringes project at
intervals; nowhere do there exist any of the long, narrow, winding
glacier tongues which are so characteristic of the Alps of Europe. But
not the slightest indication has been discovered that these mountains
were ever panoplied with ice. The process of disintegration and
levelling down has reached such an advanced stage that, if ever there
did exist evidences of former glaciation, they have now become
entirely obliterated, even to the complete pulverization of the
erratic blocks, supposing there were any. The view that meets the eye
southwards from the heights of the Kalta-alaghan is the picture of a
chaos of mountain chains, ridges, crests, peaks, spurs, detached
masses, in fact, montane conformations of every possible description
and in every possible arrangement. Immediately north of the Arka-tagh
the country is studded with three or four exceptionally conspicuous
and imposing detached mountain masses, all capped with snow and some
of them carrying small glaciers. Amongst them are Shapka Monomakha or
the Monk's Cap; the Chulak-akkan, which may however be only Shapka
Monomakha seen from a different point of view; Tömürlik-tagh[8] (i.e.
the Iron Mountain); and farther west, Ullugh-muz-tagh, which,
according to Grenard, reaches an altitude of 24,140 ft. But the
relations in which these detached mountain-masses stand to one another
and to the Arka-tagh behind them have not yet been elucidated. In the
vicinity of the Ullugh-muz-tagh there exist numerous indications of
former volcanic activity, the eminences and summits frequently being
capped with tuff, and smaller fragments of tuff are scattered over
other parts of the Arka-tagh ranges.

The next succeeding parallel range, the _Koko-shili_, which is
continued eastwards by the Bayan-khara-ula, between the upper
headstreams of the Hwang-ho or Yellow River and the Yangtsze-kiang,
belongs orographically to the plateau of Tibet.

The succession of ranges which follow one another from the deserts of
Takla-makan and Gobi up to the plateau proper of Tibet rise in steps
or terraces, each range being higher than the range to the north of it
and lower than the range to the south of it. The difference in
altitude between the lowest, most northerly range, the Lower
Astin-tagh, and the most southerly of the Arka-tagh ranges amounts to
nearly 7500 ft. With one exception, namely the climb out of the
Kum-kol valley to the Arka-tagh, the first three steps are
individually the biggest; whereas the Upper Astin-tagh exceeds the
Lower Astin-tagh by an altitude of some 1350 ft., it is itself
exceeded by the Akato-tagh to the extent of 1760 ft. There is also a
considerable rise of 880 ft. from the Akato-tagh to the Chimen-tagh.
But between the Chimen-tagh, the Ara-tagh and the Kalta-alaghan there
is comparatively little difference in point of elevation, namely, 730
ft. in all. The biggest ascent is that from the Kalta-alaghan to the
Arka-tagh, namely, nearly 1850 ft. The ranges of the Arka-tagh, again,
run at pretty nearly the same absolute general altitudes, namely,
16,470 to 17,260 ft. When the altitudes of the intermont latitudinal
valleys are compared, the significance orographically of the Chimen
valley and of the Kum-kol valley is strikingly emphasized. Both are
much more deeply excavated than all the other latitudinal valleys that
run parallel to them, the Chimen valley being 875 ft. above the valley
to the north of it, but no less than 2235 ft. below the valley to the
south of it. The case of the Kum-kol valley is altogether exceptional,
for it lies not higher, but 680 ft. lower, than the valley to the
north of it, and consequently the climb up out of it to the first (on
north) of the Arka-tagh valleys amounts to no less than 2900 ft. Hence
these ten parallel ranges of the middle Kuen-lun system may be grouped
in three divisions--(1) the more strictly border ranges of the Upper
and Lower Astin-tagh and the Akato-tagh; (2) the three ranges of
Chimen-tagh, Ara-tagh and Kalta-alaghan, which may be considered as
forming a transitional system between the foregoing and the third
division; (3) the Arka-tagh, which constitute the elevated rampart of
the Tibetan plateau proper. (J. T. Be.)

The _Nan-shan Highlands_ overlook Tsaidam on the N.E. They embrace a
region 380 m. long and 260 m. wide, entirely occupied with parallel
mountain ranges all running from the N.W. to the S.E. Broad, flat,
longitudinal valleys, at altitudes of 12,000 to 14,000 ft. (9000 to
10,000 at the south-western border) and dotted with lakes (Koko-nor,
9970 ft.; Khara-nor, 13,285 ft.), fill up the space between these
mountain ranges. In the S.E. the Nan-shan highlands abut upon the
highlands of the Chinese province of Kan-suh, and near the great
northward bend of the Hwang-ho they meet the escarpments by which the
Great Khingan and the In-shan ranges are continued, and by which the
Mongolian plateau steps down to the lowlands of China. On the N.E. the
Nan-shan highlands have their foot on the Mongolian plateau (average
altitude, 4000 ft.), i.e. in the Ala-shan. On the N.W. they are
fringed by a border range, the Da-sue-shan, a continuation of the
Astin-tagh, which rises to 12,200-13,000 ft. in its passes, and is
pierced by several rivers flowing west to Lake Khala-chi or Khara-nor.
This border-range, which continues on to the 97th meridian, separates
the Nan-shan range from the Pe-shan range.

On the S.W. the Nan-shan mountains consist of short irregular chains,
separated by broad plains, dotted with lakes, which differ but
slightly in altitude from Tsaidam (8800-9000 ft.). Next a succession
of narrow ranges intervene between this lower border terrace and the
higher terrace (12,000-13,500 ft.). The first mountain range on this
higher terrace is Ritter's range, covered in part with extensive
snow-fields. The passes at both ends of this snow-clad _massif_ lie at
altitudes of 15,990 ft. and 14,680 ft. The next range is Humboldt or
Ama-surgu range, which runs N.W. to S.E. from the Astin-tagh to about
38° N., and is perhaps continued by the southern Kuku (Koko)-nor
range, which strikes the Hwang-ho with an elevation of 7440 ft. It
includes, in fact, several other parallel ranges--e.g. the Mushketov,
Semenov, Suess, Alexander III., Bain-sarlyk--the mutual relations of
which are, however, not yet definitely settled.

Small lateral chains of mountains, rising some 2000 ft. above the
general level of that plateau, connect the central Nan-shan with the
next parallel ranges, namely, those of the eastern Nan-shan. The
mutual relations of the latter, as well as the names of the several
constituent chains, are equally unsettled. Thus, one of them is named
indiscriminately Nan-shan, Richthofen Range and Momo-shan. In fact,
the region is dominated by three ranges of nearly equal altitude, all
lifting many of their peaks above the snow-line. Finally, there is a
range of mountains, about 10,000 ft. high, named Lung-shan by
Obruchev, which borders the Kan-chow and Lian-chow valley on the N.E.,
and belongs to the Nan-shan system. But the string of oases in Kan-suh
province, which stretches between the towns named, lies on the lower
level of the Mongolian plateau (4000 to 5000 ft.), so that the
Lung-shan ought possibly to be regarded as a continuation of the
Pe-shan mountains of the Gobi.

Generally speaking, the Nan-shan highlands are a region raised 12,000
to 14,000 ft. above the sea, and intersected by wild, stony and partly
snow-clad mountains, towering another 4000 to 7000 ft. above its
surface, and arranged in narrow parallel chains all running N.W. to
S.E. The chains of mountains are severally from 8 to 17 m. wide,
seldom as much as 35, while the broad, flat valleys between them
attain widths of 20 to 27 m. As a rule the passes are at an altitude
of 12,000 to 14,000 ft., and the peaks reach 18,000 to 20,000 ft. in
the western portion of the highlands, while in the eastern portion
they may be about 2000 ft. lower. The glaciers also attain a greater
development in the western portion of the Nan-shan, but the valleys
are dry, and the slopes of both the mountains and the valleys,
furrowed by deep ravines, are devoid of vegetation. Good pasture
grounds are only found near the streams. The soil is dry gravel and
clay, upon which bushes of _Ephedra_, _Nitraria_ and _Salsolaceae_
grow sparsely. In the north-eastern Nan-shan, on the contrary, a
stream runs through each gorge, and both the mountain slopes and the
bottoms of the valleys are covered with vegetation. Forests of
conifers (_Picea obovata_) and deciduous trees--Przhevalsky's poplar,
birch, mountain ash, &c., and a variety of bushes--are common
everywhere. Higher up, in the picturesque gorges, grow rhododendrons,
willows, _Potentilla fruticosa_, _Spriaeae_, _Lonicereae_, &c., and
the rains must evidently be more copious and better distributed. In
the central Nan-shan it is only the north-eastern slopes that bear
forests. In the south, where the Nan-shan enters Kan-suh province,
extensive accumulations of loess make their appearance, and it is only
the northern slopes of the hills that are clothed with trees.
(P. A. K.)

AUTHORITIES.--An enumeration of the works published before 1890, and a
map of itineraries, will be found in Wegener's _Versuch einer
Orographie des Kuen-lun_ (Marburg, 1891), but his map is only
approximately correct. Of the books published since 1890 the most
important are Sven Hedin's _Scientific Results of a Journey in Central
Asia_, 1899-1902 (Stockholm, 1905-1907, 6 vols.), with an elaborate
atlas and a general map of Tibet on the scale of 1 : 1,000,000; H. H.
P. Deasy's _In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan_ (London, 1901), with a
good map; F. Grenard's vol. (iii.) of J. L. Dutreuil de Rhins's
_Mission scientifique dans la haute Asie, 1890-1895_ (n.p., 1897),
also with a very useful map; W. W. Rockhill's _Diary of a Journey
through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891 and 1892_ (Washington, 1894); M. S.
Wellby's _Through Unknown Tibet_ (London, 1898); P. G. Bonvalot's _De
Paris au Tonkin à travers le Tibet inconnu_ (Paris, 1892); St G. R.
Littledale's "A Journey across Tibet," in _Geog. Journal_ (May 1896);
H. Bower's _Diary of a Journey across Tibet_ (London, 1894); the
_Izvestia_ of the Russian Geog. Soc. and _Geog. Journal_, both
_passim_.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In "Orographie des Kwen-lun," in _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft
für Erdkunde zu Berlin_ (1891).

[2] It is used, for instance, on the map of "Inner-Asien" (No. 62) of
_Stieler's Hand-atlas_ (ed. 1905) and in the _Atlas_ of the Russian
General Staff. Etymologically the correct form is Astin-tagh or
Astun-tagh, meaning the Lower or Nearer Mountains. Ustun-tagh, which
appears on Stieler's map as an _alternative_ name for Altyn-tagh,
means Higher or Farther Mountains, and though not used locally of any
specific range, would be appropriately employed to designate the
higher and more southerly of the twin border-ranges of the Tibetan
plateau.

[3] The Northern Mountains are the Pe-shan in the desert of Gobi (see
GOBI).

[4] On the opposite or north side of the desert of Lop (desert of
Gobi).

[5] Sven Hedin, _Scientific Results_, iii. 308.

[6] _Ibid._ 310-311.

[7] This is the correct form, Arka-tagh meaning the Farther or
Remoter Mountains. The form Akka-tagh is incorrect.

[8] The form Tumenlik-tagh is erroneous.

KUFA, a Moslem city, situated on the shore of the Hindieh canal, about 4 m. E. by N. of Nejef (32° 4´ N., 44° 20´ E.), was founded by the Arabs after the battle of Kadesiya in A.D. 638 as one of the two capitals of the new territory of Irak, the whole country being divided into the _sawads_, or districts, of Basra and Kufa. The caliph 'Ali made it his residence and the capital of his caliphate. After the removal of the capital to Bagdad, in the middle of the following century, Kufa lost its importance and began to fall into decay. At the beginning of the 19th century, travellers reported extensive and important ruins as marking the ancient site. Since that time the ruins have served as quarries for bricks for the building of Nejef, and at the present time little remains but holes in the ground, representing excavations for bricks, with broken fragments of brick and glass strewn over a considerable area. A mosque still stands on the spot where 'Ali is reputed to have worshipped. (For history see CALIPHATE.)

KUHN, FRANZ FELIX ADALBERT (1812-1881), German philologist and folklorist, was born at Königsberg in Neumark on the 19th of November 1812. From 1841 he was connected with the Köllnisches Gymnasium at Berlin, of which he was appointed director in 1870. He died at Berlin on the 5th of May 1881. Kuhn was the founder of a new school of comparative mythology, based upon comparative philology. Inspired by Grimm's _Deutsche Mythologie_, he first devoted himself to German stories and legends, and published _Märkische Sagen und Märchen_ (1842), _Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (1848), and _Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen_ (1859). But it is on his researches into the language and history of the Indo-Germanic peoples as a whole that his reputation is founded. His chief works in this connexion are: _Zur ältesten Geschichte der Indogermanischen Völker_ (1845), in which he endeavoured to give an account of the earliest civilization of the Indo-Germanic peoples before their separation into different families, by comparing and analysing the original meaning of the words and stems common to the different languages; _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_ (1859; new ed. by E. Kuhn, under title of _Mythologische Studien_, 1886); and _Über Entwicklungsstufen der Mythenbildung_ (1873), in which he maintained that the origin of myths was to be looked for in the domain of language, and that their most essential factors were polyonymy and homonymy. The _Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der Indogermanischen Sprachen_, with which he was intimately connected, is the standard periodical on the subject.

See obituary notice by C. Bruchmann in Bursian's _Biographisches
Jahrbuch_ (1881) and J. Schmidt in the above _Zeitschrift_, xxvi. n.s.
6.

KÜHNE, WILLY (1837-1900), German physiologist, was born at Hamburg on the 28th of March 1837. After attending the gymnasium at Lüneburg, he went to Göttingen, where his master in chemistry was F. Wöhler and in physiology R. Wagner. Having graduated in 1856, he studied under various famous physiologists, including E. Du Bois-Reymond at Berlin, Claude Bernard in Paris, and K. F. W. Ludwig and E. W. Brücke in Vienna. At the end of 1863 he was put in charge of the chemical department of the pathological laboratory at Berlin, under R. von Virchow; in 1868 he was appointed professor of physiology at Amsterdam; and in 1871 he was chosen to succeed H. von Helmholtz in the same capacity at Heidelberg, where he died on the 10th of June 1900. His original work falls into two main groups--the physiology of muscle and nerve, which occupied the earlier years of his life, and the chemistry of digestion, which he began to investigate while at Berlin with Virchow. He was also known for his researches on vision and the chemical changes occurring in the retina under the influence of light. The visual purple, described by Franz Boll in 1876, he attempted to make the basis of a photochemical theory of vision, but though he was able to establish its importance in connexion with vision in light of low intensity, its absence from the retinal area of most distinct vision detracted from the completeness of the theory and precluded its general acceptance.

KUKA, or KUKAWA, a town of Bornu, a Mahommedan state of the central Sudan, incorporated in the British protectorate of Nigeria (see Bornu). Kuka is situated in 12° 55´ N. and 13° 34´ E., 4½ m. from the western shores of Lake Chad, in the midst of an extensive plain. It is the headquarters of the British administration in Bornu, and was formerly the residence of the native sovereign, who in Bornu bears the title of shehu.

The modern town of Kuka was founded c. 1810 by Sheikh Mahommed al Amin al Kanemi, the deliverer of Bornu from the Fula invaders. It is supposed to have received its name from the _kuka_ or monkey bread tree (_Adansonia digitata_), of which there are extensive plantations in the neighbourhood. Kuka or Kaoukaou was a common name in the Sudan in the middle ages. The number of towns of this name gave occasion for much geographical confusion, but Idrisi writing in the 12th century, and Ibn Khaldun in the 14th century, both mention two important towns called Kaou Kaou, of which one would seem to have occupied a position very near to that of the modern Kuka. Ibn Khaldun speaks of it as the capital of Bornu and as situated on the meridian of Tripoli. In 1840 the present town was laid waste by Mahommed Sherif, the sultan of Wadai; and when it was restored by Sheikh Omar he built two towns separated by more than half a mile of open country, each town being surrounded by walls of white clay. It was probably owing to there being two towns that the plural _Kukawa_ became the ordinary designation of the town in Kano and throughout the Sudan, though the inhabitants used the singular _Kuka_. The town became wealthy and populous (containing some 60,000 inhabitants), being a centre for caravans to Tripoli and a stopping-place of pilgrims from the Hausa countries going across Africa to Mecca. The chief building was the great palace of the sheikh. Between 1823 and 1872 Kuka was visited by several English and German travellers. In 1893 Bornu was seized by the ex-slave Rabah (q.v.), an adventurer from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, who chose a new capital, Dikwa, Kuka falling into complete decay. The town was found in ruins in 1902 by the British expedition which replaced on the throne of Bornu a descendant of the ancient rulers. In the same year the rebuilding of Kuka was begun and the town speedily regained part of its former importance. It is now one of the principal British stations of eastern Bornu. Owing, however, to the increasing importance of Maidugari, a town 80 m. S.S.W. of Kuka, the court of the shehu was removed thither in 1908.

For an account of Kuka before its destruction by Rabah, see the
_Travels_ of Heinrich Barth (new ed., London, 1890); and _Sahara und
Sudan_, by Gustav Nachtigal (Berlin, 1879), i. 581-748.

KU KLUX KLAN, the name of an American secret association of Southern whites united for self-protection and to oppose the Reconstruction measures of the United States Congress, 1865-1876. The name is generally applied not only to the order of Ku Klux Klan, but to other similar societies that existed at the same time, such as the Knights of the White Camelia, a larger order than the Klan; the White Brotherhood; the White League; Pale Faces; Constitutional Union Guards; Black Cavalry; White Rose; The '76 Association; and hundreds of smaller societies that sprang up in the South after the Civil War. The object was to protect the whites during the disorders that followed the Civil War, and to oppose the policy of the North towards the South, and the result of the whole movement was a more or less successful revolution against the Reconstruction and an overthrow of the governments based on negro suffrage. It may be compared in some degree to such European societies as the Carbonara, Young Italy, the Tugendbund, the Confréries of France, the Freemasons in Catholic countries, and the Vehmgericht.

The most important orders were the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camelia. The former began in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, as a social club of young men. It had an absurd ritual and a strange uniform. The members accidentally discovered that the fear of it had a great influence over the lawless but superstitious blacks, and soon the club expanded into a great federation of regulators, absorbing numerous local bodies that had been formed in the absence of civil law and partaking of the nature of the old English neighbourhood police and the ante-bellum slave patrol. The White Camelia was formed in 1867 in Louisiana and rapidly spread over the states of the late Confederacy. The period of organization and development of the Ku Klux movement was from 1865 to 1868; the period of greatest activity was from 1868 to 1870, after which came the decline.

The various causes assigned for the origin and development of this movement were: the absence of stable government in the South for several years after the Civil War; the corrupt and tyrannical rule of the alien, renegade and negro, and the belief that it was supported by the Federal troops which controlled elections and legislative bodies; the disfranchisement of whites; the spread of ideas of social and political equality among the negroes; fear of negro insurrections; the arming of negro militia and the disarming of the whites; outrages upon white women by black men; the influence of Northern adventurers in the Freedmen's Bureau (q.v.) and the Union League (q.v.) in alienating the races; the humiliation of Confederate soldiers after they had been paroled--in general, the insecurity felt by Southern whites during the decade after the collapse of the Confederacy.

In organization the Klan was modelled after the Federal Union. Its Prescript or constitution, adopted in 1867, and revised in 1868, provided for the following organization: The entire South was the Invisible Empire under a Grand Wizard, General N. B. Forrest; each state was a Realm under a Grand Dragon; several counties formed a Dominion under a Grand Titan; each county was a Province under a Grand Giant; the smallest division being a Den under a Grand Cyclops. The staff officers bore similar titles, relics of the time when the order existed only for amusement: Genii, Hydras, Furies, Goblins, Night Hawks, Magi, Monks and Turks. The private members were called Ghouls. The Klan was twice reorganized, in 1867 and in 1868, each time being more centralized; in 1869 the central organization was disbanded and the order then gradually declined. The White Camelia with a similar history had a similar organization, without the queer titles. Its members were called Brothers and Knights, and its officials Commanders.

The constitutions and rituals of these secret orders have declarations of principles, of which the following are characteristic: to protect and succour the weak and unfortunate, especially the widows and orphans of Confederate soldiers; to protect members of the white race in life, honour and property from the encroachments of the blacks; to oppose the Radical Republican party and the Union League; to defend constitutional liberty, to prevent usurpation, emancipate the whites, maintain peace and order, the laws of God, the principles of 1776, and the political and social supremacy of the white race--in short, to oppose African influence in government and society, and to prevent any intermingling of the races.

During the Reconstruction the people of the South were divided thus: nearly all native whites (the most prominent of whom were disfranchised) on one side irrespective of former political faith, and on the other side the ex-slaves organized and led by a few native and Northern whites called respectively scalawags and carpet-baggers, who were supported by the United States government and who controlled the Southern state governments. The Ku Klux movement in its wider aspects was the effort of the first class to destroy the control of the second class. To control the negro the Klan played upon his superstitious fears by having night patrols, parades and drills of silent horsemen covered with white sheets, carrying skulls with coals of fire for eyes, sacks of bones to rattle, and wearing hideous masks. In calling upon dangerous blacks at night they pretended to be the spirits of dead Confederates, "just from Hell," and to quench their thirst would pretend to drink gallons of water which was poured into rubber sacks concealed under their robes. Mysterious signs and warnings were sent to disorderly negro politicians. The whites who were responsible for the conduct of the blacks were warned or driven away by social and business ostracism or by violence. Nearly all southern whites (except "scalawags"), whether members of the secret societies or not, in some way took part in the Ku Klux movement. As the work of the societies succeeded, they gradually passed out of existence. In some communities they fell into the control of violent men and became simply bands of outlaws, dangerous even to the former members; and the anarchical aspects of the movement excited the North to vigorous condemnation.[1] The United States Congress in 1871-1872 enacted a series of "Force Laws" intended to break up the secret societies and to control the Southern elections. Several hundred arrests were made, and a few convictions were secured. The elections were controlled for a few years, and violence was checked, but the Ku Klux movement went on until it accomplished its object by giving protection to the whites, reducing the blacks to order, replacing the whites in control of society and state, expelling the worst of the carpet-baggers and scalawags, and nullifying those laws of Congress which had resulted in placing the Southern whites under the control of a party composed principally of ex-slaves.

AUTHORITIES.--J. C. Lester and D. L. Wilson, _Ku Klux Klan_ (New York,
1905); W. L. Fleming, _Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama_ (New
York, 1905), and _Documentary History of Reconstruction_ (Cleveland,
1906); J. W. Garner, _Reconstruction in Mississippi_ (New York, 1901);
W. G. Brown, _Lower South in American History_ (New York, 1901); J. M.
Beard, _Ku Klux Sketches_ (Philadelphia, 1876); J. W. Burgess,
_Reconstruction and the Constitution_ (New York, 1901). (W. L. F.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The judgment of the historian William Garrott Brown, himself a
Southerner, is worth quoting: "That violence was often used cannot be
denied. Negroes were often whipped, and so were carpet-baggers. The
incidents related in such stories as Tourgée's _A Fool's Errand_ all
have their counterparts in the testimony before congressional
committees and courts of law. In some cases, after repeated warnings,
men were dragged from their beds and slain by persons in disguise,
and the courts were unable to find or to convict the murderers.
Survivors of the orders affirm that such work was done in most cases
by persons not connected with them or acting under their authority.
It is impossible to prove or disprove their statements. When such
outrages were committed, not on worthless adventurers, who had no
station in the Northern communities from which they came, but on
cultivated persons who had gone South from genuinely philanthropic
motives--no matter how unwisely or tactlessly they went about their
work--the natural effect was to horrify and enrage the North."

KUKU KHOTO (Chinese _Kwei-hwa_), a city of the Chinese province of Shan-si, situated to the north of the Great Wall, in 40° 50´ N. and 111° 45´ E., about 160 m. W. of Kalgan. It lies in the valley of a small river which joins the Hwang-ho 50 m. to the south. There are two distinct walled towns in Kuku Khoto, at an interval of a mile and a half; the one is the seat of the civil governor and is surrounded by the trading town, and the other is the seat of the military governor, and stands in the open country. In the first or old town more especially there are strong traces of western Asiatic influence; the houses are not in the Chinese style, being built all round with brick or stone and having flat roofs, while a large number of the people are still Mahommedans and, there is little doubt, descended from western settlers. The town at the same time is a great seat of Buddhism--the lamaseries containing, it is said, no less than 20,000 persons devoted to a religious life. As the southern terminus of the routes across the desert of Gobi from Ulyasutai and the Tian Shan, Kuku Khoto is a great mart for the exchange of flour, millet and manufactured goods for the raw products of Mongolia. A Catholic and a Protestant mission are maintained in the town. Lieut. Watts-Jones, R.E., was murdered at Kwei-hwa during the Boxer outbreak in 1900.

Early notices of Kuku Khoto will be found in Gerbillon (1688-1698, in
Du Halde (vol. ii., Eng. ed.), and in Astley's _Collection_ (vol. iv.)