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

narrative, and has, on his map, not a single detail for the road from the Yellow
River to Lassa. The Italian version, which has several mistakes, but also several
interesting details, was the result of an interview which Grueber gave two gentlemen
in Florence in 1666, and which was published in later editions of Thevenot's work.¹
From there ASTLEY made the following extract regarding the road to Tibet, after
they had crossed Desart Tartary: »Afterwards he came to the Banks of the Koko
Nor, which signifies the Great Sea; being a great Lake, or Sea, like the Caspian,
where the Yellow River has its Source. Leaving the Sea behind him, he entered
into the Country of Toktokay, which is almost desart, and so barren, that it need
fear no Invasion. One meets with nothing but some Tents of Tartars. It is watered
by the Toktokay, a very fine River, whence it takes the Name. It is as large as
the Danube, but so shallow, that it may be forded every-where. Thence having
crossed the Country of Tangut, he came to Retink, a very populous Province, be-
longing to the Kingdom of Barantola; where at length he arrived, whose capital
city is called Lassa.» ² Thence it is easy to see from where Cantelli has got his
material for the entirely new form he gives Koko-nor as well as for his Toktokay,
Retink (now Reting-gompa), Barantola, and Lassa, so much the more as he quotes
both the Jesuit Missionaries and Thevenot. But if Cantelli had read his Thevenot
more attentively, he would have seen that Grueber and Dorville, travelling from
Koko-nor to Retink, (the same way as 180 years later Huc and Gabet), had to cross
the country of Tangut. This has been placed by Cantelli in Ala-shan and Mongolia,
while his Retink is on the S.W. shore of Koko-nor.

The very poor, but very important letters and interviews which, from Grueber
himself, have come down to our time, have therefore fructified the map of Tibet in
a very high degree, and the hitherto almost unknown country begins slowly to emerge
from under the impenetrable mist which so long had covered its secrets.

WITSEN's map of northern and eastern Asia, made in Amsterdam 1687, is
regarded as one of the most remarkable of its time.³ Pl. XXXIV shows a part of
it. F. G. KRAMP says in his notes to this map that for the regions east of the
Caspian Sea Witsen had translations made from the Arabian geographers while, for
China, he used Martini as well as Chinese maps procured and translated for him by
Father COUPLET. He has obviously also used Russian material, as can be seen in
several names, f. i. Tebetzami, Tiobetz Ansky (Tibetanskiy), and Tangoetska. The
last is a town in Tanguth, the two first are the Tibetans, in both cases called Mon-