middle of June, he then spent a couple of months in the exploration of the Tisnab valley and the middle Jarkent-darja, as well as the water-divide between the two rivers. So far as I am aware, he has never published any detailed and connected account of his journey, but his maps have been published by the Geographical Society of St. Petersburg. Of Pjevtsoff's journey in 1889-91 those parts which possess direct interest for us have been already touched upon in the preceding pages (vol. III). His companions Bogdanovitsch, Roborovskij, and Kosloff have done excellent work in mapping the extreme north of Tibet. The later expeditions of the two last-named belong to a part of the extreme east of Tibet which does not at present directly concern us. And now a few words with regard to earlier journeys in the border regions of Tibet. These are far more numerous in the western parts than in the eastern; it has been less difficult to carry on exploration there because of the relative nearness of India as a basis of operations. In the year 1857 Adolph Schlagintweit travelled from Kara-korum to Kilian, Karghalik, and Kaschgar and was the first European to reach this city from India, but he was murdered there by Vali Khan. In the summer of 1863 Montgomerie despatched Mahomed-i-Hamid northwards from Leh, his object being to take astronomical observations and make topographical measurements. His route was over the Kara-korum pass and viâ Kara-kasch and Kilian to Jarkent, where he remained until the spring of 1864; but he died on the return journey to Leh.
On the 2 7th May 866 W. H. Johnson began an important journey from Kaschmir, where he was employed in trigonometrical surveying. He was the first European who reached Chotan over the Kwen-lun, and had a friendly reception from the khan of the place; he was also the first European who in modern times visited Kerija. After a stay of sixteen days he left Iltschi (Chotan) on the 4th October and started back by way of Sandschu, Schahidulla, Kara-kasch, and the Kara-korum pass to Leh.** After reading Prschevalskij's account of the impossibility of penetrating through the Polu defile, it is somewhat surprising to find the following expression of opinion on the part of Johnson: »The route viii Rudok and Polu, although circuitous, has many advantages over others, the chief of which are that wood, grass, and water are obtainable at every stage; that the road passes over no rugged and high snowy ranges like the Sarsil and Kara-korum passes; and that it is safe from robbers.» And a little before that he says, »The only hindrance to this route ... is the opposition of the Tartar shepherds of Rudok, who, I am of opinion, could be induced to allow traders to pass through their country by the offer of a small pecuniary payment guaranteed by the British Government.»
When at Polu Prschevalskij was given the following information about this route, as he records in his account of his fourth journey: »At Polu we learnt that a little way farther up in the ravine of Kurab there is a route over into Tibet, but the track that leads that way is exceedingly rough, and moreover had not very long before been deliberately made worse by the Chinese. Formerly that was the route
* On the Geographical Position of Yarkund and some Other Places in Central Asia. By Captain T. G. Montgomerie, in Journal of Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. xxxvi. (1866).
** Report on a Journey to Ilchi, the Capital of Khotan in Chinese Tartary. By W. H. Johnson, in Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc., vol. xxxvir. (1867) pp. i ff.
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