Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/35

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RECENT RUSSIAN EXPLORATIONS.
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sagar pass to the Pamir. His journey confirmed the general accuracy of the maps, and presents many features of interest. The results of this later journey were so striking that it was at once resolved to de- spatch another and a larger expedition from Samarcand. It was to follow the same route as that by which M. Maieff returned, and to turn off at Deh-i-nau on the Surkhan, whence it would proceed to Hissar, Khawa- ling, and Grharm, on the road to TJshkurghan in Ferghana. From Grharm it was to visit the Pamir. The scientific officer attached to this expedition, M. Muschketoff, has lately published some of the geogra- phical results of that journey. His observations apply exclusively to the northern part of the Pamir, known by the name of Chargosch. The geological examina- tion of the strata proved that the structure of the Pamir is mainly granite, metamorphic clay, and mica slate, and that the granite outcrops are generally the same in their direction as those of the Tian Shan, viz., east-north-east. The highest summit in this part of the Pamir is that peak called after General Kaufmann, which towers for twenty-five thousand feet into the air. M. Muschketoff' s examinations of the region go to show that Humboldt was wrong in supposing that the Pamir represented a meridional mountain system, to which the name of Bolor was given. M. Musch- ketoff explains the misconception which the appear- ance of the Pamir had given rise to, in the following manner : — " On the ground both of the geological structure of the Pamir and Alai, as well as on the basis of the geological data collected by Stoliczka, I