But I like these colored distinctions, however erroneous they may be.

In landscapes the eye is caught by colors.

And is there not a good deal of landscape about geography?
It appears that this desert was formerly occupied by a huge central basin.

It has dried up, as the Caspian will dry up, and this evaporation is explained by the powerful concentration of the solar rays on the surface of the territories between the Sea of Aral and the Plateau of the Pamir.
The Kara Koum is formed of low sandy hills which the high winds are constantly shifting and forming.

These "barkans," as the Russians call them, vary in height from thirty to ninety feet.