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| 0014 |
Innermost Asia : vol.1 |
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superior intelligence a very useful practical helper in archaeological field work. His keen topo-
graphical sense and zeal allowed me in addition to make use of him with distinct advantage on
survey work.⁵ The marked ability and pluck displayed by him were recognized on our return by
the award of the Macgregor Silver Medal and secured him admission to the Survey of India as
Sub-Assistant Superintendent. This appointment has been fully justified by the distinguished
services which Miān, now Khān Sāhib, Afrāz-gul Khān has since rendered.
Extent of
journey. The close links I have indicated above between the archaeological and geographical purposes
of this voyage will help to account for its wide extent. When I returned in March, 1916, to
Kashmīr, it had lasted close on two years and eight months, and the aggregate of the distances
covered by my marches amounted to nearly 11,000 miles. The objects of my expedition were not
confined to the exploration of ruined sites from which to gather fresh materials for antiquarian and
philological research in Museum and study. Quite as important in my opinion were the observa-
tion and record of whatever could throw light on the past and present of the ground traversed by
those ancient Central-Asian routes which for centuries had been the channels of trade and cultural
intercourse, and by which the influences of religious belief and political conquest had linked China
with India and the Near East. It is for this reason that the record of this journey takes the reader
from the passage land of westernmost China across the whole Tārīm basin to the uppermost Oxus
and to Irān, from the Hindukush valleys in the south to Dzungaria and Inner Mongolia in the
north-east. Exacting claims on my time since my return from this expedition have not allowed
me to publish a personal narrative of it, such as might have served as a guide to the scope and
bearing of the record presented in the present volumes. Hence a rapid synopsis of their contents
may usefully find a place here.
Start for
Kāshgar
through
Darēl and
Tangīr. The favourable conditions that happened to prevail at the time of my start from Kashmīr
allowed me to pass through the valleys of Darēl and Tangīr, a Hindukush territory never visited
before by any European and since closed again through lapse into tribal anarchy (Chap. I).⁶
There I traced the route by which Chinese pilgrims in Buddhist times used to make their way down
to the Indus. Then travelling through Yāsīn I crossed the glacier pass of the Darkōt, the scene
of a memorable Chinese military exploit, and crossing the snowy ranges enclosing the head-waters
of the Karambār and Hunza rivers reached Chinese territory on the Tāghdum-bāsh Pāmīr. On my
way thence to Kāshgar I examined certain old remains in the great Sarīkol valley, and then surveyed
a new route down the difficult gorges of the Kara-tāsh river, which had so far remained unexplored
(Chap. II).
Help of Sir
George
Macartney. A brief stay at Kāshgar under the hospitable roof of my old friend Sir George Macartney,
H.M. late Consul-General, allowed me to organize my caravan and to benefit greatly by the prac-
tical help and advice which this kind friend gave me with regard to my intended explorations.
Conditions of Chinese administration in the 'New Dominion' had greatly changed since the revolu-
tion, and it was mainly due to the unfailing watchfulness and energetic support exerted from afar
by that ever-helpful friend that serious interference with my plans, owing to official obstruction, was
avoided. I shall always remember very gratefully the great and manifold advantages which his
exceptional influence and forethought secured for me throughout my travels on Chinese soil.
From Kāshgar I traced an ancient route through unsurveyed desert along the outermost
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