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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

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ground, of both kiang (wild horse) and wild yak, * a good evidence of the excellence of the grass. The road has evidently been occasionally in use, as it is marked in places where it might easily be lost in the snow by small stones placed in an upright position here and there on large rocks. My guide told me that he had only once travelled by it, when accompanying a very small caravan of not more than five or six ponies, on which occasion, there being a great deal of snow on the Sugét Pass, through which they feared they would be unable to force their way, they had resort to this alternative route to the Karakorum. I have never met another man who was acquainted with this road, and its existence appears generally unknown to the Bhots of Ladakh.

I returned the following day to Shahidûla (33 miles) visiting en route the jade mines between Gulbashem and Balakchi. These have been described at length by the late Dr. Stoliczka.

It was deemed advisable, that from ShMhidûla onwards all open survey or display of instruments on the road was to cease. Permission was given,. however, for one of the most experienced and wary of the Pundits to take observations quietly with a small pocket compass, with which he carried his route survey up to Yarkand. I also made occasional observations at night for latitude, so that a rough but tolerably correct survey of the road was obtained. On our return to India these restrictions were found to be unnecessary, and one of the Pundits proceeded from Yarkand viâ Sanjû and Shahidûla, and without any attempt at concealment paced and re-surveyed the road carefully.

When we left Yarkand for Kashghar the Pundits were directed to remain behind, but one of them was permitted to follow a few days after, and made a very fairly accurate route survey up to Kashghar, the others had to stay in Yarkand until we left the country and returned (with the exception before mentioned of the man who went by Sanjû and Shahiddla) with the advanced baggage party under Tara Sing, t via", the Kugiar and Karakorum route. They carried a route survey from Yarkand up to Leh. The ground between Karghalik and Kûlunaldi (on the Yârkand River below Kufelong) had never before been surveyed. The Pundit who followed us to Kashghar did some good work ; besides making an excursion with Tara Sing to some of the neighbouring bazaars, whose position he was enabled to fix, he accompanied a party of the Mission on an excursion to the north of Kashghar in the Altyn Artysh Districts, making a traverse survey of the road. He also went with Colonel Gordon's party to Sirikol (Tashkurghan), and returned to Yarkand by himself, diverging from the route by which he had come at Chehil Gombaz, whence he proceeded by the direct road to Yarkand, a distance of upwards of 100 miles, over ground that has never previously been surveyed. It was arranged for him to return to India vie/ Khotan, a journey he accomplished most successfully. Prior to leaving the country he paid a visit to the Sorghak Gold Fields in latitude north 36039'51u longitude 82°42' east of Greenwich, about 160 miles (by road) to the east of Khotan.; Returning thence to Kiria he found his way back to India by

• Polu, Noh, and the Pangong Lake, a route running from one and a half to two degrees to the east of the most easterly route we have hitherto possessed, viz., that traversed in 1865 by Mr. W. H. Johnson in his journey to Khotan. Details of the route followed by the Pundit are given in the Appendix, as are also his observations for latitude and height.

Description of routes between Lddakh and Turkestan.

It is not proposed to give here a detailed description of the lines of route followed by the members of the Mission on their travels between Ladakh and Eastern Turkestan, $ but a brief comparison of the various lines of road between the two countries may not be uninteresting.

* A yak is a species of mountain ox which only lives at great altitudes, and is much used for the carriage of merchandize over snow and ice. On ice they are far more sure-footed than any other beasts of burden.

t Treasurer to the Mission.

$ Details of the roads traversed by the members of the Mission will be found in Section G. of the Appendix to this Chapter.

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