In the same work it is said that south of the town of Keriya a road crosses the Keriya mountains, going to Tibet. Further on, and according to the Si- Tsangtshi or Description of Tibet the road is described more in detail. Going straight northwards from Lhasa one arrives in 24 days at Nak-thshan and thence in another 15 days at Shulungshan, after which it is 18 days to Keriya. The same road is also indicated in the I-thun yii-thu, at least from Mar-yang-mum-dur, where it branches off from the Shigatse-Koko-nor road. Himly gives the situation of Maryang-mum-dur as 3o° 54' N. and 26° 6' W. from Peking. The indication of the direction to the north from Lhasa must, as Himly suggests, depend on Nak-thshang (Naktsang) being confused with Nag-tshu-kha or »the Mouth of the Black Water», which is situated on the road to Koko-nor. Otherwise the northern direction should only refer to the part of the road which accompanies the western shore of Tengrinor after which it takes a more westerly direction to Naktsang. In this case the Nak-thshang of Si yü-shui-tao-ki should be identical with the Nag-tsang which, according to the I-thung-yü-thu, is situated on the road to Keldiya or Keriya. Nakthshang is placed at about 32° 52' N., and 28° 24' W. from Peking, and N.W. of Altan-nor or Gold Lake in Mongolia. Shulungshar corresponds to the Shulunshala of the I-thung--yii-thu and is placed at 33° 25' N., 29° 4o' W. A special sign shows that Shulunshala was even provided with a watch-post. Further west the road takes a more northerly direction crossing the Thshakartu-tsaghan-ussu and a nameless watercourse joining it from the west. Still further north the road crosses the frontier of Tibet at Sali (Sari), and makes a tremendous bend to the east, round a mountain and two lakes. One of these lakes is called Ghashon-nor or the »Salt Lake», and north of it the road crosses now in a westerly direction a north-going watercourse, and then the Shadutu-dabaghan or »Ladder-Pass». There the road touches a group of small lakes and reaches Eastern Turkestan vi â Suget.
According to the Si- Tsang-tshi there is a road from Rudok in Ngari to Yarkand, 15 days long.
This description of the old road is so clear and positive that its existence in those days cannot be doubted. But now it is quite forgotten both in Tibet and Eastern Turkestan. It is entered on Klaproth's map where it agrees in every detail with the translation given by Himly. It was of course impossible for Klaproth to tell anything more of this old road than what he found in the Chinese works. And, curiously enough, even to us, some 8o years later, it is impossible to add anything beyond what Klaproth knew. For the road is fallen into oblivion, and all the names it has are Mongolian, not Tibetan. In many respects, especially regarding the Nienchen-tang-la his Niantsin tangla gangri, he was far in front of his time. Several decennia should pass before the journeys of the Pundits proved the existence of this range. And still, 6o years before Littledale discovered the Goring-la (19 587 feet), Klaproth has entered a M. Gouring-la on his map, situated S.W. of the glacier-massive of Nien-chen-tang-la. And when, in 1908, I received information about the
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