jade, nephrite, China, Xinjiang, Khotan, Hotan, Hetian, gems, Fischer

Stoliczka reports firsthand observations of nephrite in the Karakash Valley on the southern border of Eastern Turkestan, made during his travels with the Yarkand Mission. He describes the occurrence of jade in the Kunlun region south of Khotan and distinguishes material obtained as transported boulders from that occurring in its geological source. Of particular importance is his description of the locality near Gulbashen, where nephrite occurs in situ as a bed or vein associated with metamorphic rocks, providing direct geological evidence for a primary source of Khotan jade. He also comments on abandoned workings and the former extraction of the material for export to China. The note is an important early scientific account of the geological occurrence of Kunlun nephrite and helped establish that the celebrated jade of Khotan was derived not only from river gravels but also from primary deposits in the surrounding mountains. One of the earliest eye-witness accounts of the nephrite mines near Hetian, China