"These facts and explanations refute the second point of the arguments
which were brought forward by Sven Hedin in favour of his hypothesis,
asserting the existence of some other Lob-nor.
"I accept the third point of his objections, namely, that the grandfathers
of the present inhabitants of the Lob-nor lived by a lake whose position
was more to the north of Lob-nor; that was mentioned already by Pievtsov,
and the lake was Uchu-Kul.
"Why Marco Polo never mentioned the Lob-nor, I leave to more competent
persons to decide.
"The only inference which I can make from the preceding account is that
the Kara-Koshun-Kul is not only the Lob-nor of my lamented teacher, N. M.
Prjevalsky, but also the ancient, the historical, and the true Lob-nor
of the Chinese geographers. So it was during the last thousand years, and
so will it remain, if 'the river of time' in its running has not effaced
it from the face of the Earth."
To Kozlov's query: "Why Marco Polo never mentioned the Lob-nor, I leave to
more competent persons to decide," I have little hesitation in replying
that he did not mention the Lob-nor because he did not see it.
