National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

two points, the situation of which for certain reasons it was possible to fix. It
often happened that, in the endeavour to bring absolutely essential points to agree,
encroachments were caused on adjoining territories and routes, and in such cases
conformity could only be attained by dividing the fault over considerable fields of
the map. But on the other hand, it is only natural that a country, comparatively
so little investigated as Tibet, should offer both the traveller himself and, later on
his cartographers, the greatest difficulties. The enormous mountainland between
Transhimalaya and Kwen-lun is cleft into an intricate mosaic of basins without out-
let, and an inextricable confusion of chains of mountains and ridges seemingly with-
out connection. It lacks the simple large and clear lines of Eastern Turkestan with
its guiding hydrographical skeleton.

In these conditions, our million scale map no doubt is encumbered with many
faults, caused by the defective material and the frequently very vague nature of the
routes. Colonel Byström has, however, tried to make the best of what was to be
obtained.

The million scale map must therefore only be considered as a first edition,
which I hope it will be possible to improve by degrees in the future. All correc-
tions necessitated by new discoveries shall be introduced. After a certain number
of years, it will be possible to publish a new improved edition. It is my wish and
intent that this map shall be permanent and even in future, during different epochs,
be considered to give the best obtainable cartographical representation of Eastern
Turkestan and Tibet.

Professor Dr K. V. Zettersteen has controlled the spelling of names on the
million scale map.

Colonel Byström has drawn a small scale map showing the division of the
million scale map into 15 sheets. The whole of the topographic material, as well
as the text, is to be published during next year. For the atlas, Colonel Byström
will write a preface in which he explains his working methods.

During my latest journey, I made it a rule to draw a panorama of the whole
region, within my horizon, from each camp and from each dominating pass. They
amount to 552 in number, and are printed in numerical order on 105 sheets, forming
a special volume of the same size as the atlas. For the completion of the topo-
graphy of the travelling routes, these horizontal views of the landscape have been
a valuable support to the cartographers, not least when they were to get an idea
of the relative altitudes. They should also offer the reader a comparatively clear
view of the general habitus of the Tibetan landscape and of its most striking charac-