A journey to the source of the river Oxus. [New ed.,]

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A JOURNEY

.SOURCE

OF THE RIVER OXUS .

llv CAP'l'AIN JOHN WOOD,

\/·.II F/1/lJO.\', I'. /1/ /'J:/1 /{) I/IS SO.\.

r-,

WITH AS ~:.-iS •.\ Y OX TIIE

~ liEOIHLU'IIY OF THE \'ALU:Y OF THE orns.

LONDON:

.TOIIN )lllHl!AY. AI.HIDIAHI.Ji HTl!EJi'r. 187i:

LONPOK: 18L'l;'JSD BT ll'lW.111 Cl.OW. Alm IN»,... i.Alll'OCITaut&JIDCll.ulltG~

109 5 . '0~

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

IN bringing a Second Edition of" A Personal Narrative of a Journey to the &uree of the River Oxua" before the Public, I havo avoided any great change in the text; for although the yean that have elapoed since its first appeornnoo have brought with tl1em vast changes, and although many, aye most of I.he actors have passed away, still great interest cannot hut attach itself to an early explorer's deeeription of men and things, and I have on tbia acconnt refrained from expunging peeeagea that may be familiar to some of my readers. I have thus been enabled to preserve the continuity of the story throughout, and where I have been able to collect later information of a nature likely to interest those who take up the book the reader is referred to notes. The attention that has of late been directed to Central Aaia bas induced Mr. Murray to publish the present work ( the first edition having been out of print); and it ia no amall aouree of gratification to me to be able to point out that my father's reports have been fully oonlirmed by later travellers. Thanks principally to the RWIBian forgeriea attributed to Klaproth, the geography of that portion of Central Aaia treated of in the following pagea was for a OOlllliderable number of yearw shrouded in mystory, and Wood'a account was oubjected to doubt and BUBpicion of inaccnracy. Fertunately however tbe labours of the Mlrza, of Pundit Manpbul, and of other Eastern

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDfflON.

travellers, have poured a flood or light upon the question, and the troth and reliability or Wood's drawings and reporta are now Cully established. The" Edinburgh Review" for January, 1872, contains• an able and exhaustive articlo on this subject, tracing the origin and course or the so-called Klaproth forgeries and their complete refutation by later travellers. The following remarks briefly show the causes ..-hich led to the Expedition, and the estimation in which the work ACCOmplished by it was beld by Government. Arter Sir Alexander Burnes' voyage up tho Indm to Lahon,, in 1830, the Indian Government never relaxed its efforts to procnre the Culleat details respecting tl1at stream and the adjacent conntries. The information collected by that officer lod to negotiations with every State which bordered on the lndus and its affluent& between Lahore and the sea, the enlightened object or which was to coruer a boon OU Asia by permitting commerce again to circulate through an artery which barbarism had cloeed. . This rlesirable arrangcmont was ell'ected by treaty in April 1832. It was further neceesary lo hove tho seabosrd or Bind 1111rTeyed ; but tho expediency or this meaaure waa not at fint apparent to its SU11picious rulers, nor was the point conceded until the close or 1836. This survey was DO easy task ; and for the excellent map or the .. Mouths or the Indus" which resulted Crom it Govemmont were indebted to Lieutenant CarlC88, I.N. Aga Mahomed llahim, a Persisn merchant or Bombay, was the first to take advantage or the oponiug or the lndus for the purposes or trade ; and with a view or outstripping all competitors, and reaping largely or tho profits which might be expected in this new field of commereisl enterprise, he pnrchosed a steamer for the navigation or the river. At his request, and with the permill8ion or Govermnent, Lieutenant Wood took command or this ,-1; and OD Satorday the Slat October, 1835, he, with Dr. Heddle, had the proud safuf"action or unfnrling their country'• Sag OD the lndus Crom the first at..amboot that ever ftoated

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

vt;

upon ilB celebrated watero.' lo February, 1836, the 111"8mer returned to Bombay, leaving Lieutenant Wood on the river to ascertain itB periodical rise and fall, to note the spread of the inundation, and to record such other phenomena as might hereafter be useful for itB DavigatioD, Having performed this service, failing health, the reault of hard work, compelled Lieutenant Wood to leave for Kutch, whence as soon as he was oonval""°"nt be proceeded to Bombay. On arrival be found Alexander Bumes engaged in preparing the oommer~ial mission to Afl'gbnnistan by the lDdue, to which he had hceD Dominated by the Govemor•General. On the 9th November, Lieutenant Wood was appointed au 08Bistant to this mission by Sir Robert Grant's Go,·emmcnt, and OD the 26th November, 1836, the mi..ion left the harbour of Bombay. On nearing the Bind coast, Dumes gavo written instruction!I to his coadjutors. The following extrocte are from the instructiona given to Lieutenant Wood :-"You are aware that one of the objects of this expedition is to ascend the lodUB from ilB mouth to Attock, th•t a more perfect kuowledge of the river may be procured, as well for the purposes of commerce as of war, and this important examination I am instructed by the Government of India to entrust entirely to you. In doing so, I am sure that the experience which you have gained by nearly a year's residence ou the banks of the lodu.s, added to your professional skill and wcll-kuown aseiduity, will be certain to KOcure the accomplishment of every objoct contemplated by the Governor-General in Council. . . . . . The instructions which I have received from tho Government of India draw my 1 Tho boat wu nlUlll'd a.f'lor tho rivor, 11.nd wu or tcn-homl powor. Thirty-four ycan later Captain Wood. ... 1uporiotc11tlent or tho Imlw 1tc&m 8oti1111, rcporta: the oxistence on tho rivor of a fleet or 8nt.-el111111 1tcRmort1

profit or 22,6731. 10,. ror the flrwt 1ix months or tho year. No ganra.nketl undertaking in India haa tlouo morl' Uwa thUI in proportion lo ilil m11i&.e.l, or boon moru 1ucceuf'ul in a oom• mcroial lllnae. And lhi1 eminent

al.PW or cfflclcncy,

Hl0001111oftlwl11dtM0otill1t.UlattriLulf,,-I

C'8r11i11g for tl1cir ownoll', in 1870, a nl'l

n111111lel1 theae beda or ooaJ proved or ll1ICh amall depth u to render

tlwir pttdllable W01'king impracticable.

l'REFACF. 1'0 THE SEOOND EDITION.

is

Agnin, under date 4th April, 1838, Bamea thua reports the cliscovery or the 1011rce or the 0:r.oa : -11 It ia with extreme autisfoction I report that Lieu(Amant Wood bas anccessrully accomplished his explorations and d~acovery of the aource of the Oxus, and, having overcome the many diflir KalM1I. -llnl111moil Akhnr Kh,11.-Amfr D1111t ll11l1am" I Khiin 9'J

CONTENTS. CHAPTBBXI.

. ....

ll11p ot Afglwaialan.-Prorinaool Koh Damu.-Kabal NOHOUn0.--8l1ukur Da,oh.-A aoblo proopocl.--yal lho ...-y.--Gudml al Jlonow and btaW.-Daber'■ ch.riptian of btalar.--0 ...t alnmdaoe of f'nailPlain ot Bogram.---0olm.-Tmlmh aeWera.-Bels Bawa. or tho moving •nd.-Zluala.-lbt Mohamed KMD'a belief • 110

CHAPTER XII. An Uzbek Amhuador arriw. In KabaL---Objeet of bil lltlllon.-Hlil IIUDtWa.-llini. Baddi.-Tho ~ ot Hindd Kc:ah.-llUo oboioo of Parwan.--Stan l'or Tmkiatan.-Afgban Elchl.-A mW.ke of Iba Kalllla llubi.-n.med by I.ho Afp&D Elcbt.-Dad road&.-Daogvn 111DOb1 &ho Mountaina.-Entor Iba Panran ftlleJ'.-Encampal. lhe font ot the PaaOoidct.-Aeoen1l Uto Pft-.-ltl danpn.-l'orml lo retam.-Death of lbe Af'ghaa ElohL-HladU1...,. ummg lbo ...,.___ , . to Kaba! . • 117

CHAPrBB XIII. 81art. by Bandan tor Turkie&an.-A beu.1)tekod huband.-Blwor Holmaad. -Immign.nt HIUUU. - Tribot. - Allaglant'fl. - HuaJmtera. - Haara fomab.--DepraTOd boapit&Hty.-Baan. family.-Aueedolo.-P... of llajikak.-J'aol.-P.- of Kaln.-Pimuri dofllo.-Balna of 7.ohawk.Alnoll&t.-Ungnclou reoepllon.-A rlngihJ( dnne.-8ykan.-A..rc:et.ld.. -81a'f'O lrlbllle.-Kamrud.-BeflecliaaL-M.ini Uwldi'• &onant,,..-M'uar aiarat of Hunt AII.-Arri'fal In Knndaz . . 125 CHAPTER XIV.

Murad Deg in Darlar.-Kmadu.-Cbanotel' of the cbW.-Uabi:b.-Tribcll al Tu1ary.-Tl\lw.-U1bot ID-.-lalluoaco al Iba Hallam.Preclmlinat.ioo.-llnlll.-Walaliou.-Boraw..-Dop.-U1:bek ladN)II.Ct'melerica.-lluhamecl Deg'• cue.--CouaUatiou.---ObtafD leaTO lo 1nco tho 0&1111 • •

)37

CHAPTER XV. Siad on 11D o.aplontory e.apmlioa.-Fellow t.ravellen.-Ollfll•m Hn.eia. Abdul Gbuoi Y. .nl.-Senaata-llaroo Polo.-Kancluz Pltilo.-Pbenomena.-Kl1•u-a-bad.-Hmplt.ablo 1U11loata.--8nagqmrt.en.-lCoJhdloo1. -U.dDkbtblt•L-Collegt·a ot Kbam-a-bad.-Tllo t.owu.--Joamey to Talill:l11n.--Ch11'11f'tl·I' of' the road.-N'ahlre nr tliomnant•ina.-Koh Umbt•r. -F..aglel IID•I eroWL-Ab cmbarnaod iutervicw.-lk'8C-b Talikhan . 146 CIIAM'F.R XVI. Al1h1k KM;n.-A dea-enclaol or Ale.aander tho 0111111.-Tallkt.a ...ll'OWL -Kirgbia ■l■nL-llulrel clayL-llobamed 0.•lm Khojah.-Pua or l.atta-band.-Moantain "'9DelJ,--8apent.itioaa.-Kila Argban.-Woln"IL -V..1rtl1111•ke.-Kanbolak. - MNlald w.lley. - I.exmd. -Agmdural1.Nahwi.-Taiabkban.--J11M11lnml1.-Wild hop.-Vale of Dnnim.-Plain or Argn.-Bciabkb■ n.-Khcda,ll nf K..bpr.--Cbluab.-A■peet. ol l'tlll11t.ry rmm l•ilo-bmd tu C,'hiHnh.-Ah.-ncu ur hdaal,Ha1111L-l>mlry l)IIK,.raDDl', -t"}·aLatl.-lL-lkrlionL-011'11 nl'K.u ■b.-Aniv■.I in Jem1 • UL'i

CONTEN1'N.

CHAPTER XVII. ,M

Interview wilb tbo l'ff8l'hut ~ Jerm.-81:ut ror &he t.pia-luull miuea.-A eraay gaide.-Put.ridge huntiDg.-An uwelano reeep&io11.-Tbe Kokeba river.-Aa Iron miae.-Shriae of 8mb Kur.-l"trpmu.-Preparationt lor 'rialdng &he mlaea.-A dncriptioa of the miDH.-A Yillago ..-bd bJ Kdln.-Anecclole of Abdul Gbani.-ae..ter Jl'nn . 165

CHAPTER XVlll. U.Clublhiea ■urpri.,acl by wl11&er.-Their d....Ulnp.-AdYanlapl and dllRdvanllp&-EsJll'b- of houeboping.-Domeltio ateuila-Ligb& t"rom mode.-Dn.• or &he Dadubahiea.-Tbeir daaneter.-Win&er"■ employ• 1D1Dl-81uved putridgea.-Ahmed 81-.h.-ChiDNe.-A Jo• tral'ellor.No.l pun.labmen& tor &befL-An Ahh,mlat ou&wiHed.-A partridge llaa& on &.he 1-nb of the Koli:eha.-Earthqaakel.-K.mn.-DiDnor-puty.llarriage ellltomL-The indepeadea& llina.-Tbo tn&n1pid iro11moe1gcr.A tai&bral dog.-Begi■ter of&he WN&her • , . • , . 17-1 CHAPTER XIX. IDhuiloato ol lladatbabao.-TaJlb.-Kdln.-llallaha.-Goo,1-l•eedlai< or Iba lower --■el.-On.Ye doponmenl of Mohamedan ebildreu,-Anlnl ut

,

- -Sh......-OblolD por,lllai'"' lo .t,,;1 lhe Baby lllaoo.Bellpu d.__--Sla_,._.lag~Belecllom.--Stan for lho Baby MIDeL-EUCl!ldion of Criminalt.-Kokoba riYCr.-Khyrabad.-Kou Darow,-Keen alr.-Yowl.-TbieYlng Doobye.-A anpicl,,11■ deaih.Bobat.-U.bak.-Prepantion■ from mllk.-Pua of lab-bahm.-Plaln~ of l■b-tubm.-A war-worn traTeller.-lliatorhmn of a tribute-le'fyiagputy. -Fullo,-lhellabJ-...--&me .......lollbm, . IOI CHAPTER XX. Pull out wi&b Abdal :obanc.-llake up the qaurol.-A mm1nted Kirghiz mabon.-Her atoed..-Tbe Yak or lcul1-gow.-l■hbakh.-Shah Turai or

Kundu&.-A K.lrshhl enoampmcal-Klla Panj.-llint•rul lpring.-1■-r.­ Sbeama &om llu&aeh and Pamir.-VCltlp■ of the ancient Firo-worllhippen.-Tbe W..bu ehlal'.-DUBcaltiN.-A Klrghia NCGl'L-8omo of Iba& poople.-Tbe Kuob . . 207

"'°'"'"'

CHAPTER XXI. Quit I.anger Kilb.-Entor Dwah Bir--1-lml,---cold bil'ouac.-lhrcb on the tmzen ril'er.-A meeU.ng.-WiUowa.---Snow neam1imen.t.-Horn ■ ol lho wild. lheep.--8nag qmrtera.-A matinJ.-DUllcal& &nanlliag.-Aeilidcnt apon Ille riTt'l'.-Kirp.hl at pra,.....--8ovco of tbo riYC:r (b;ua.-Laku 8ll--l•Jr:ol.-Heigll& of llou.a.talu.---8ource■ of man7 ■kudnl.-SounJing lhe i.lce.-E«oct■ ol • rare8ed abnolpbue.-Puhation■ npoa PIIIDir.-Snow IUU!'.--BaucilJ of •ood.-llimala7a and Hindd Koah el,aiD■.-Thu Kutchbr, or wild llbceli,-Tbe Jt--.-lleturn tn Lanw:-r Kilb . . 2'ld

CONTENT!IIJ.-MatrimoniHI aqaalJL-llo,.h•n.-Shagnaa.llanru.- Wanderin~ l'akir.-A 1inKfn11r euler&ainmf!11t.-Bpring.Changt.•d 111Jl(rl or the lancbai.p.•.-The F..dd.-Arrh-11I 1o1t Kuudnz . .

2-rn

CHAPTER XXUI. l'lh11t (or Hurat lmam.-Muchin,:.-Hurat lmam.-Patic:-nt..-Ik,gii. Hunting or pl1l1Ul&Dt&.-Ma.rder of the Wakban ohiet.-Frrtility nf the t-a11ke of the Os.U1.-Mortality ot Kundns and Hazrat Jm..m.-Uzbt-k fcmalee.----..,;,;:banran.-KU. Chap.-Ford the Kokeba.-Bite or BarbaTTah,-

Plo.in or Targbi-t-Tippa.--J'an Kila.-Ford U1e O:u,..-Said.-Rct.am tc-warda Hunt lmam.-In~U,able n,e,eptian.-Fiud lheller In an old .bed.-Anive in Bo.uat Imam.-Dnth or the IHr'e _.n,-Death of tht> llir.-KnndnL-Pliilanthl"lpJ' or Mogbul emre,on.-Robbcn.-Khulru.Hanlllttand.-Export nf ,kln•.-Fnn1.-Mohamedan aint.-"llnnrcrnA.liundut . :?54 CIIAPTl".R XXIV. Quit Kuaduz.-Dt-atb of Mirza 0.1di.-8hur-Al, riTnlci.-l'lain or Nurin.JlinJd Koeb.-IndHab.-P.. trLaN'hul menncra of a 'f11jlk obief.-Re8ectio111.-Hotrmt·nla or pos\lln.1 trilx-ti.-Ammgemcnt fur 01,tc-ring Afglu,niatM.-Tht"rmal ■pringe.-C"1Ming the Pn.1 nr Khank.-Kbawak fort.Panebehlr val1ey.-8een"ry and inl ahitant■.-Uzl.ek 11i»like or J-'h8! during the reign of Naosb.irwan, who u alleged to have ruled as far as Ferghana. 3. During the time of the Ephthalites, Buddhism had spread wide in the Oxus countries, and seems almost entirely to have displaced the religion of Zoroaster in its very cradle. The prevalence of Buddhism, and the connexion with India through the extension of the Ephthalite rule over the vallef of the Indus, must have more or less lndianized Bactria. Hwen Thsang found Termedh, Khulm, Balkh, and other cities of 'l'okharistan, but above all these Damian, amply provided with the convents, Stupas, nod colossal images which are the striking charocteristics of prevalent Buddhism: even the secluded valleys of Andarab and Khosl, and Wakhan, in the bosom of lofty Pamir, were not without their convent& To this lndianized character of Dactria, in the Sassanian a~e, a late writer refers the frequent confusion in the Parsi traditions between the Oxus ond the lndus; and to this period also, he rcfere the introduction of the namf'I of llalkh, into Sanskrit literature, and of the Yanzu, or Oxus, into Hindu cosmo~ony.1 Christianity also penetrated to Khoresan and Bactria, at a somewhat early date. In A,D. 33! on episcopal see exiete9rhapa in the rich and watered baoin still known br, the Tureo-Mongol name of Ming~k or "Thouonnd Spring,,,' where the aucce880I' of this same aovereign was ocC'ustomed to spend the summer heat& The Byzantine ambassadors on their retnm to Europe came, we are told, to the river OecA, in which wo probably have the lateot mention of the Oxus, by it■ name in the primeval form (Yeh or Wakh),• and then to• the great

!r:';:.~C: =~~n:: t~~::r;.?;,:S.::e ~i8w tu':cS!te; ~:03-:-88° Hammer'• "'Gold Horde." ~:i:1her1:1i~•i:h~=

~t

~~~C:::t;~'i,rn11. 1

E.bani-

For thll ldel1U8eat.ion I am In•

Ubled to • leunOO utiolo in the .. Edlbhargh Reriew,'' for JanU&l'J' 1872. I wen&aro to cWl'er rrom tho dla-

::,a~t't.':;=~W::uf'!obe!i:i''L~::i tbo The plMe or t.bo g~t JUlllk■•

Khan'• nunmer encampment i•

de■cribedin

tha■

a.u. 880,:ZH•enThaang:

1~-~'tl~~•:: ::Oer:,;•b~ Turb hilber Jl!III' to • eomOI

Hery

aape the ■ummor heal&. , . , Aftor pcoc81Nling (one d-,1 and a halO to tbo !~•J,B~inl:;!! 4c.("l'clorina lloud.,'"ii, H; iii. 268), Some not,icu uf tlie Mingbul&k tlM't will be foarul in the journey ot M. 8evertzuft", who wiailed • pert of

::!u:.."1a!:~

ud-

~•After bavia~~ I~ touch daf:.: :: : \t~-~h;~:: -~~~~

~'!:fa&-:'! Thouand'S;np. 01Thc

diltrlcl ., mlled ... fa bounded on the •alh by the 8DOWJ M:ount&iWI

l'lllDJNDtmt in all that region.-" Juur. Bo7. Geog. Soc.," wol. :I.I., p. 867.

Ell.IT.)

MARCO POI.O-WOOD-CLAVIJO--JENK!Nl!ON.

xliii

and wide lagoon," no doubt the Arai. Their coune then lay acrotl8 the atep_pes to the Volga, an,1 ao by Caueaa111 and the l'haais to 'l'reb1zond. Thia circuitoua ro11te wae OOIDl?"lled by the jealoUB hostility of the l'eraia110, who tried to intercept them even north of Caucaans. The fragmentary narrative which alone survives does not d88("ribe the outward route, but, from the aame motive, it muat also lain north of the Cea(lian. We have already quoted acanty noticea from the early Arabian geographora, and from the book of Mareo Polo. The joumey of the latter extended not only through Jlalkh, Talik,n, end lladakhahan but by the bordera of Shiglman and through Wakhan end Pamir, all of them namea which occur in his

ha••

ata1lia old traveller baa never met with elucidation of a more atriking and intereatiu11 kind than in the narrative of Captain Wood, when following 1n hia footste(JI. Nor waa then, ever a better examp1e of tho manner- in wliich a genuine but obscure narrative becomes more and more clear and intelligible under the teata of advancing knowledge, juat aa the veins of fine wood or marble come out under polish, than we find in this pnrt of Marco's notices. Little mon, then a year ago I publiabc-d an elabomte comwt•ntary on it, from all the I01llCe8 then available; but even since then, the journey of Major Montgomerie's "Mirza" l1aa thrown a new light on the aubject, and we can ace now, as it was not p:>88ible to see then, the •ad route (in all probability) by which the Veoetiana travelled from l'amir to Kaabgar. l'erfectly true and accurate 88 )lareo Polo'a Ox111 geography was, it W88 far beyond the digestion of his own or the following ages. Information ao far in advance or an author's own time ia like prophecy, which only becomea clear in the light or ita fnl0lment. In 1405 Roy Gonzalea de Clavijo with hie brother envoys from Ceatille, after pas,injt through Ilalkh, CNlll8ed the OxWI by a bridge of boata, on h1a way to the court or Taimur at Sama.rkand. He saw Tranaoxiana flourishing aa no traveller haa had a chance of oeeing it since, nnil be waa the ff rat and last European traveller 11·hom we know to have paaaed through the famous Iron Gate above Termedh. B11t he was not higher up the ~ t river than that city; and of lladakhahan he aaw nothmg, though he found the priuce or that country (Bala&id him a visit, eager with questions ea ta the manner of 60,dmg the rubiea which had carried the namo of bis country into regions so rcmoto. lo 155~9 our countryman Anthony Jenkinaon aucceeded in reaching Bokhara, travelling 88 an explon,r on behalf of the

xliv

BENEDICT GOES-ELPHINij'i'ONE AND ERSKINE. [B11n.

Huooovy Company by Aatrakan, the Caopjan, and the Tarkman desert. Be foond no commercial promise in Bokbara under the Uzbeks, but brought bwk among.other observationa ono of tho latitude of the capital, which waa by no meana accurate, though perhaps a better approximation tbau the map makers of his time "·ere prepared to turn to acconnt.1 It W88 more than three hundred aud thirty years from the time of Polo'• joumey, ere he had a European follower through Badakhohau, and acro88 Pamir. This W88 the Lay.J88Uit Benedict Goea, a truly noble character, and a man wh088 name would have occupied one of the brighteat placeo in the hiatory of gecgmphy, had he survived to tell his story in a complete and intelligible •hape. Bia object W88 the exploration of Cathay, the determination of it.a whereabouts, and ihe reconuoiasance of it. capabilities •• a mission field. He started from Agra in the latter pert of 1602, and tmv,lled by Lahore, Atlek, and Peahawar to Kabul. After long detention here he proceeded by Parwan acrca the Hindu Kuah, and ao by Dadakhel,an and Pamir to Sarikoi and thence by the OhichiW.ik P888 and the Tangitar valley to Yarkaud. This latter part of his route ia perfectly clear in the light of recent exploration, but in Badakhohau the obocnritiea of the narrative, os we have it, are great.• 9. The material available ia too defective, nor would it be of interest to tmce the growth of juater conceptione of the geography of B...,...ria (aa it W88 termed) during the eeven• teenth and eigl,teenth centuriee. 'J'he tmnelation of Edriai and the Ambian tables, utilized" eepecially by the great French cartogmphere, aaeisted tbia, aa did the iuformation that gradually beaan to come from the Rueeian aide, and that which was gathered by Rennell in India. The amount of material collected by Elphinetone and Macartuey during the Peahawar mi1!8.iou of 1809 wea very large, but greatly needed to be bound together by actual tmvel and eurvey. &ill it added much new detail to the maps ; and that of Macartney ia still, on Ollrla.in points, truer than later on..,_• The publication of Sultan Jlaber'e autobiography followed (1826), •·ith an admirable introduction by the principal tmnelator, Mr. W. Erskine, who 1 It I, tn ho Rgnttod that Mr. FJpbln1looc did not print tho l&incrariea ued by MllMltD.07 in prcpwing bi■

::!; ofl~bi~Ljnea': ~:d n~ 'T.:i1: now, and which now eould be hoHer utilbed &ban ... die cuo IIU.17 JCB111

....

-•-l

DURNEii AND ASBISTANTS-CAPTAIN J. WOOD.

xl•

pf iu the real existence of the high plain of Pamir as if it were quite exceptional. 10. In the year or two immediately following Captain Wood's journey there aecmed reason to look for the erection of a large superstructure on the foundation he had laid. British outposts reached as far as Saigban and Haibak (or Saman1?&n, the birthplace of Rnstum,) in the valley of Khulm; and British shrapnel rattled about the ears of the gigantic Buddhas in the gorge of old Damian. But the dark days came "!"'edily, and· our knowledge of the Oxus region stood still. Kluinikotrs able work ori Bokhara (1843) dealt with the valley of the So~hd, and scarcely touched on that of the Oxus. A wall of iron seemed to se~te us from that region, and it was with surprise that we received Generol Ferrier's narrative (1856), ernbmcing among his extensive travels a rapid journey from Herat to Balkh and Khulm, and back to Herat untrodden rouws through the country of the Eim&ks an western Haz&ros, and the rnllcy of Ghur, the cradle of the Ghurid dynasty. Ilut no substantial addition to our knowledge of the Oxus countries was made for twenty years nftor Wood's publication. Abdul llcjld's rui88ion to Kokan then gave us the first modem account of a journey across the latitude of the Pamir plateau. The Punjab trade Heport (1862), compiled by Mr. D•v1es, now I,ieutenant-Governor of that province, was accompanied by numerous appendires containing a mass of new and valuable information, chiefly supplied by Mahomed Amin, formerly the guide of Adolphus Schlll!,>intweit, and by Pandit Manphul, a well-educated Hindu gentleman in the service of the Punjab Govcrnmcnt.2 In 1868 we b. Bia achievement 11'&1 followed by that which is the moat memorable and sncceaoful of these explorations, that of" the Pandit," who, in 1866, reached Lh...., anil determined the poaitiou of that famous and inacceuible city, oonnecting it by a route survey up the whole length of the San_1>_0 valley, with the holy lakes or Kailils and the valley of the Up!!"• lndUB, a chain or entirely new work stretching through 11 of longitude. In the meantime (1866) Mr. Johnson or the Indian Survey had succeeded iu reaching Khotsn, and making observations there, bringing back not only his own head upon hia ahou1'lera, but the flnt notices of that region that we posae&1 by n ,·isitor since the days of Benedict Goeo. 'J'he spirited journeys of Mr. I!. Shaw and Lieut. Hayward to Yarkund and Kaahgar followed (1868-9), and then the mission of Mr. Douglas Forsyth, C.B., aocomponied by Mr. Shaw, to the former city (1870). We have already had much valuable geopphieal inrormation from Mr. Shaw. and a great deal more may be looked for, in the poaition which he now holds at Ladak, 11. Another emissarv of Major Montgomerie's, the :Mirm.,1 reached Knol,gar from Kabul by way of Badakhshan ancl l'amir during the detention of llCSBrs. Shaw and Hayward at that city (winter or 1868-60). This worthy has been the first to tie together tho basins of the Os.118 and the Tarim Ly a chain or route meuurements and compas9 bearings, with seveml de-

terminations of latitude. Had we not been prepared for his results by the labours of Mahomed Hamid, corroborated by )leBSrs.-Shaw and Hayward, which showed how erroneous were the longitudes heretofore assigned to the great cities of Eastern Turkeatan, there enn be little doubt that the accnrac:y of the Mirza's work ~·onld ha•e been subject to general misgiving. But a main result of the longitudes deduced from the formor e,plorations had been tl,e great enlargement of the width of the unknown mountain-country between the Upper Oxus vulley and the basin of Eastern Turkestan. 'fhe amount of this rerorm ma'/ be best appreciated from the fact, that the diatsnce from ~•n11.a""l of llti•lakhshan to Kaahgar, as the crow flies, which in Kiepert'•" Asia" (of 1864) amounts to two hundred English miles, extends by Colonel Walker's Map of 1867 to three 1

DN

~or ll'onlgomorio"• em_,.iHI lib the emporon or Ohlu,, whmo

lnla

IUllll8II,

acc,nrdlng to II. Paulhlor,

are DOt known till they 11111 dead.

zlrill

OXUB AND KASBOAB BASINS-SABI.KOL.

hun Polo to Faiz llakhsh. lllany lake• are acattered over the surface of the plateau from which stream• flow. Wild-fowl abound upon these lakes in summer to an e:r.traordinary degree; and in the vicinity of water deer of aome kind are very numerous,

f""'iae

r.

1 Exception• may lie oiled. but nol mfBelent lo upee& &be geneal trulh or thia 'l'Nlw. We han notieed the brier

c:-...a::~c=;u:.:~-r: pntnleaee or Indian religion a& one

ENn.]

GROUNDS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL DISTINCTION.

l•ii

aud the great sheep·(Olli1 Pol,) apparently all over the plateau. In 1869 a murrain among these latter is said to have killed them off in multitudes. A goat called Ra!'f, affording a floe shawl wool, is found on the steppe; also a kind of lynx, whoee fur is valued. Foxes and 11·olvea frequent Pamir; bean and til,.!ers are occasional visitors. The wild yak, according to Foiz Bukhab, ia oLlo found there ; if this be true, Pnmir is its western aucl northern limiL1 l'amir waa at one time the aummer haunt of a la?!(O nomad populatiOJI of Kirghiz with their numerous fto,ko; but the depredation• of the Shighnis (regarded al"' with horror by the Kirghiz aa Shlah heretics) and other kidnapping neighbours, are said to have driven them to the eustern valleys, or to the Kokm territory, and tho only 111mmer viaiton now are about one thou,and families, who frequent the shores of Rang-Kdl 011 Little Pumir. Mountains in some pl•ces liR themselvea out of the steppe ; one group between tho two southern Oxus sources being estimated by Wood to rise three thousand four hundred feet above Lake Victoria, or nineteen thoUBOnd feet above tho sea-level; and cithl•r a branch of this group, or anotht-r of not much in-

ferior height, would appear to lie crossed on the direct route betw8"u that lake and the valley of Ta.b Kurghan over a pua called Shindi Kotal. Th• difficulty of respiration is experieneed all acrosi Pamir, though more severely on these higher l""""8; aud tho Kirghiz of the less elevated Alai steppe gave tluo as a reason to }'edchenko for their being unable to live on Pu.mir.1

A belt of loUy mountains, of considerable bot uncertain breadth, forms tho eustern border of the plateau, rioing occasionally into peaks, which Hayward sets down approximdtely al . 20,000 and 21,000 feet. 'fhe steep and rugged eaatern spurs of this mountain belt form the buttresses of Pamir towards Eastern

:.:.F.;1:. =·'='.!: ff:.~ l: ~'!.!~~~;~~lit~ :: tain the -,uth•watol' Koko-ndr: bat lho true nataro of the ml110lilef did found • nc4ioe or • bup yak, which 1

Tbo YU: ia not mcnlionNI by llan•

to

not.

wu killed appuontly on Pamir in

=~.-::

the 1i:lkonth cenlury ('" Noticea et,

or

~~ J;· :hu Pi,!:~ ~i::

lbo Uppor Jnurlell in ]!abet'• time (I._ 852 1• I know not it the Kok.a Klr,1tl1iz 1till kcep them.

• The auft'oring fmm aUenuatcd atblOllpb,-ro bi ca.111...:l by tho Dadnkh11hia and Wllkht. 7\,•k, by the Tarkl11 A"M, l!gnifyiag an odour or mium. by tho

~n;!~:,-~!.~!~~-: . . u:~i!!~ Aala&ies .ceaorally n,fer 1ho a11t"ll8Ull!flll

produced by Ude

t'&DIC

1n local miam.

occur 1n lhem. Tluiy 1alk lounedly of carbonic acid pa. and toll how, lhia

~~tf.:t'u:; :.!;:

:~:: tt:,vier leml .._ tf:1n on fool.

No doubt: but lho hone, I approhend, ■ul!'ered

:°':~lhe:1:!:rao~"' J=::fc:8prlio, a:.~ elblom of leeb, tion■

n■ ln.1t

and 1lrled. fruit, la tbll way. 1

The

~u: ·;.!'-:!:~ r.i,t:n; llr. llatthew Anaold In one of bfa

poc1n•.

lviii

PAMffi PLATEAU, ITS CHARACTERISTICS.

Turkestan. The same belt, or an offshoot, called from one of its posses Kizil Yart, traverses the plateau to the north of Lake Karaktil. separating Pamir from onother and a narrower plain called the Da,/,1, or steppe, of Alai. As it goes west it seems to rise l1igher and higher; for Fedchenko, who recently saw it from the western part of the Alai ~teppe, and gives 1t the name of Tram-Alai, states that the mt>dium height or the ridge could not be Jess than 18,000 or 19,000 feet, whilst the summilll of the highest peaks even reached to at least 25,000. For grandeur of 88J?8Ct, he says, nothing in the scenery of Turkestan can rival thIB view of these monntains. 'l'he Alai steppe runs in length from west .to east, with a decided tendency north, and is drained, as M. Fcdchenko has discovered, the upper counie of the 8urkh-ilb of Kamtigin. It is, by native report, about forty miles in length, and from seven to fourteen miles in width. In the west. where Fedchenko was, its height above the sea is 8,000 feet; but it is believed to rise to about 12,000 at the eastern end, and this is probably about the height of the adjoining part of Pamir; for the second slope of this appeara to be, as was aware,1 from south to north. Fedchenko was told that the few po.,ses ocro,s the intervening range were exceedingly difficult. Rut Mohomed Amin represents the Kizil Yart P ..., leading from near Karakul into the Alai, as" not very difficult." 2 From the head of the Alai p888eS lead northward to Ush and Kokan over the watershed between the basins of the Oxns and Jaxartes, and are used by a detour in summer, when the Terek, the]rincipal pass between Kashgar and Ush, is impracticable. p88S, called Taimurum, leads Crom the Alai north-eastward into the Terek road and the Kashwu river valley. This is perhaps the Dina Davan Etiuk, or" Twin Mountain P889" of 'Izz.at Ullah. Among the hills immediately south of the Terek P ... are, it would seem, the souroee of the river of Kashgar. Others of the rivera that flow down into Eastern Turkestan, and eventually join the Kashgar river to form the Tari,n.gol of our maps, appear to have their sources far back in the Pamir steppe, such as the river which our maps of the last age have tauglit us to call Yamanyar, and the Kar& some the name or Panj or Par,j• (1',.,. in Persian) l{iven to tbo Oxua in it.a upper courae.1 Till-SO five nre thus detarled by l•taklrri :" The Jailnirr riBCB under the name or Jori-ab (or Khori-ab) iu the land of Wakhan which belon~ IA> Badakhsl,an. In Khotl and Wakhsh it receives several tnbutariee, which swell it IA> a great river. The first tributary of the Khariab is called Akhas or Halbak ; the next is the river Bart.In; the third is the river Farnghi; the fourth is the river Andij&m; the filth is the Wokhshab, which is the greateet or all these riven. Theec all unite with the Jaihun."' '.rhe readings are very uncertain, and we have so little trace of moat of the nomea oocuning here that we cannot be certain u to tho geogrnpber's view. But there seems no room Cor question as IA> t.ho identity or the Khsriab • iteclr with tho P•nja of Wakhan, and of the Wakbsbah with the northern Surkbab coming from Kanltigin. We are thus led IA> ecek the inter4

Or Jari-ib. Jr Khri-db he iha

:i!=.!r~~ey.1::_!ft.:!n~htc Olm, which wu only lffMI

jou.r1ae, rrom lndia.-Ti. 17.

day■"

Ban.]

SKETCH OP CHIEF 00Nl'LUENTS-8URKHAII.

bi•

mediate tributaries aloo on the right or northern bank, a ocheme sogl(e8ted aloo by the rode mape inserted in the booka of Jstakhri and lbn Haukal.1 We shall then be iodnced to identify the Akhu with the river of Shakh or Shaghn,n, and the llartan with that large branch from Pamir which the information of Wood (aee Walker's Jllap) ancl of Manplnil concnrs in ezhibitin_g as entering the Panja at Bartan11 on the bonlers of Darwu. For the rivers of Faraghi and Andij,r& we mUBt be content to wait till we are better aeqoainted with the territories of Kuhih and Darwaz. The flctitiODB geography which has oo much perplexed our

mapa or the Oxu1 regions baa thrown needl888 difficnltics in the way of a just oonception of the main contribntaries. Tho • Bolar branch " has bl,en very persistent, hut may now be finally disoarded. Whatever may be the true view as to the Hve traditional confluent.a, if we consider the Osus or Amu to hove attained maturity at KobadiPn, we may reprd, the main contributarira RB four, viz. the northern Snrkhab, the Panja (embracing the rivers of Shnghoao and Dartim 01 too obseuro to be separately dealt with, however important they may eventually prove), the Kokcha, and the Aksarai or Kuoduz river. 18. 1.'he most northerly branch, and in the bulk of its contribution probably seeond only to the Panjn, is the SunsuAo, Wakhaha6, or nver of Kar&tildn. No European ill known

ever to have seen this river, ancf doubt has lain not only on its tn,o oooroo (ool;r recently dispelled), but on the position

••act

of its junction with the Panja. In General Abramoff"'• reeent noteo on Knratigin, this river is stated, on native re~rt. to riae among the western buttresaca

of Pamir, not far from the sources of the Panja. Some rumours collected by recent tmvellers seemed to bring_ it from the Kanlkul itselr, as we shall see hereafter. But Jll. Fedchenko has taken us by ourprise, one of the results of his journey to the Alai steppe bein~ the diooovery that the Snrkb&b, under the syuonymoDB Turk, name of Kizil-sli, has its rise in that steepe, of the western portion or" histantially lower than Lake Victoria may be deduced from more solid (acts. For, in addition to Capt.ain \Vood'a own eonrlnsion, from the temperat11re of the two streams, we observei that human habitation extends much farther uj> the Sarhad valley; the laat village, Patlir, being forty-two miles from Panja. Aa far BB this the valley i•, for a high tract, well peopled, and not without ogrieultu,e, though the wealth of the people consists in their stoek, sheep, goats, kine, ponies, and Ji,k,. 'J'heir houses, generally built contiguous, are of stone and mud, flat-roofed, and warmed by stoves. These are not described, but probably resemble the platform sto.-es of North China. The district formed bv the hamlets of the Sarhad Wakh,n valley is also termed &lrigA Olaaupd-. '1'bia name, which i■ uacd by Faiz Bakhsh, appeors in Belier's time, when tho valley RO called was held for many 1.ears (1603-1515) by Sulta11 Abubakr of Kashgar; and a bttle later (15t0) we llnd his successor, Said Khan, marchillj? to the conquest of Badakholum through this aame district of l,-· p. a!TiL

• Acoo~lng lo the " llemoini of Humaf1D1" (p. 89), that priuoe, irt &le of tbo Panjllhir paaaea or Khawli.lr), and eneunpa OD thu ol tbe Bangf. And lberc

..,_ da~o,.._ one

luzil

THE OXUB, DATA OF SIZE AND LEVELS.

Bnmea indeed apeaks of KbAoabad M ., Btandiog on a rivulet ;" 1 hot the river mwit dP88rve a higher title-he must alh1de to a branch or C81181 merely. The main r.hann•l i• erc...-d by a stone bridge; but, as we l•am from Wood. it was ai,ty yarda wide, and there w111 another channPl, LPaidea a variety of oonala.1 or the size and depth or the Surkhab, or Aksarai 88 it ia there called, opposite Konduz, either above or below the junction of the Bangi waterw. I flnd no diotincl estimate. Wood forded it moch higher, near Baghlan, in the end of November. Burnea, in hia narrative, doea not mention how lm rro!l&OO the rivor (in Jone) on hia long ride from Khulm to Khanalwl and back again: bot he atatea, in a ,l...,riptivo ch•ptor, that neither of the riverit at Kuuduz are fordable during the summer melting of the anowa.1 2'A. As rP.gards the Oxus itself. and the amount of its dischar~, I know of no data later than Hnmes's ; these Jlh'e us 111 good idea of the magnitude of the river at the time when he pasaed iL The Jl"Ueml resulta that oon be dedoeed from hia obaervationa at Khoja Sala-about onA hundred and sixty milea below the Junction or the Ak88rai. and at Charjlii. about two hundred mlle.-1 still further down-arc that the wiuter stream (i.•· the loweot) has a ehannel of about four hundred yards in width; that the disrharge on the 17th Juno and 17th Aul(lltll, i. e. at a month1111 interval either way from the hii,:hest.]evel, would be f"rom sixty-five tho11SaDd to seventy-five thousand cuhie feel per aecond ;• but we have no meana of jud~-iug what proportion the winter dillm Mardi till the Mid nt lb,,-, whiW it fall• rrom J1111t1 to Sep&ambrr.

valw

SIZE ANIJ LlsVELS OF THE OXUS.

Ju.xiii

moist.are, verdure, and agi:iculture. Above thia bank the level• of the primary valley have the sterile character already deaeribed. Our information 88 to the aboolute level of points OD tho river, or in ita valley, is most acanty. Burnes statea the level of Balkh at 1,800 feet ( no doubt from an oboervatioD of boiling water). In Wood'a book I find no ob..rvalion of Kunduz; but \\' alker'a map Btatea it, I presume on his authority, nt !100 feet. Dr. Lord on the 'Other band, who atayed al Konduz during OaptoiD Wood's aboence in Badakhshan, makes J{nnduz not quite 500 feet above the sea: and from the leioure and rc, thcn:forc, we pL,re Pamir Bara on the west of the plateau, lookin:,c down towards 8highnan and l!oaban. The name is probably Y..,,il (Gn.-en.) Lake Kard:ul is ,aid by Manphul to lio in Pamir Khargo,l,L Abdul Mejid marks his thiril stage from Langnr \\'akl1a11, (Langar Kish of Wood) as in Khargoabi, and Faiz Ilakwoh

-~:~

:t~!for~:·rr:~li~nAbd':im~:-ia~=· :;c: !:i~! further in the steppe before reaching kko Kamkul, this would 0

BOOm to indic·ate that Pamir Khargoehi constitutes much the largest section of Pamir. The only data we have for the ,, ..ition of Karakul are its existence at this point of Abdul Mejid's Itinerary, and the data of the CWn..., ma1~ and tlu, Hydrography, which wo shall quote further on. Doth are very lUOlle, but tl1ey are colllistent so far oa thoy go. I should approximately assume lat. 38" 40', long. 73° to 73° 16', as it., middle point. Doth Hayward's information and Shaw'tt ascri008 vory large dimensions to this lake, in fact a circuit or ten to fourteen marches. Abdul Mejid, however, gives it but four

dnve. 1

Pamir .dlichUr I vc·nturc to locate on the ell8tem Bide of the tublc-lnnd, north of Pamir Khunl, on thu faith of the Chin""" map, in which tho name appears as Ho-e.z.i.u-.ul, and of u document which will preaently be quoted. Panair Bang-kUl I conceive to Ho to tbo extreme north, under

tl~t~!r u':8':t~ .=:-!170:~r(~= ~m:.~~~~lf.h~ uii, J, lr, "• 1

p. :r.11'). 1 0.-·rh·ccl fn,m ronlu

1 ·•

i11 '·

l'unjol1

Punjab Tndo Rt•11, 11 App., 11. dv.

9

• D\'SAIIE" LAKE-CHINESE IIARCH, 1759.

tho Ki,il Yarl range, beside the oeoond an/I more northerly luke or that name. '.l'bia ia the Biangkul of the Cbineee mup, and of many mapa since Klaprotb's. 'J'he existence of onch a lake in that pooition hM bOOD confirmed to me by the map which Colonel Lulll8d&n drew uom Mahomed Amin'• information, u well aa by the rontea of the latter printed in the Punjab Repon. And in laking down his statement■ a oonfnaion, apparently ariaing uom the esiatence of theae two llang-klila, liB1 led to an enormona enw in one of hia route■ as there 1,riveu.•

"BUMJgh Kol" appears in the Itinerary of Abdul Mejid, aa the nut •tall" from KharltOlhi, the four1h from Laugar Kiah. I had been inclined to i.Jentify it with Ishal-kul. 1!ut Ma.jar Montgomorie augg,,sta that it ia wood'a Lake. The IIZO uacrilied to BvaagA Kol, "one day a ride in circuit," wo11ld oorreo~d foirly with the dimenaiona ..,.;ftlled to Lake Vfotoria by \\ ood. The name ia, I imagine, &m1>kul, " the Fetid Lake," and it will be seen that Wood mention■ tbia cbaracterilllic of the water of hia lake (p. 237). On tho whole, I am indined to adopt my friend'• auggeation, though the data arc not 111ffirient abaolutely to de,ide the ~ueation. The Yakh-kul occur■ on Abdul MeJ1d'1 march, one day short of Karakul, aud thia ia all we know about it. The name ia presumably from Yakl, 11 ice." Dgaam, Lal,, appeara al,o in Abdnl Mejid'o Itinerary u the

reanr

next stage from KorakUl.

The nome ia altogether onomal0118.

J>J,ame

and I atronflY suspect that ia a clerk-al error for u The Same !'" Considering the 11ze of Koraklil, nothing UI more probable than thut the traveller■ should huve twice baited upon at& shoros.

lleforo attempting to identify the Ttls-kliJ and Pu-long-knl, I will quote the authority whirh •peaka of them. Tbi11 is the report of the (,11inetre geneml ol the force which took i-ion ol' Kaahgar, in l 75U, and the date corresponds to 13rd November in that All t>xtruct fron1 it ia given in a letter from the Jeauit Futhera du llooha and Espina, dated from Kaobgar three days later.• The rc1NJrt otatea that the Liout.-Geneml fonte {Fu-te ?) having lcan,ed that the Khojaa had eacaped towanL, lladakbohBD, punued them by foroed

rear.

1 Fmm AWGM, 'fflJ liU1e abne tho laLUade of t.ko Victoria, • IOUlo ru111 nort.b to the Alai 1111d &ho Teftlk PaM.

'29~T,. man':~~cfut~~t1!°~t:_

llaliomcd Amin, or hla cumpilcr. baa lr-.ped at OIi.OD r.Oln thi• 811Utl1eru Bana:-klil to the Alai 11.eppe, a dudellC(•

of certainl7 IDOl'U Uwi one hundred milca, in one mu.n:b ! Tl10 (aot. hei~. I imagine, that tho whole intenal beLwu:n lbo two Rang-lnfle h• boon omiUcd.-&o "l'u11J!i.b 'f,ado &port."

Al1'.:l?U::i·t~:::..,.. p.:HB.

rcc. uxi.

F:..n.) NAMES MENTIONED IN.." LETI'RES £DIFIANTES." luxvii

marohes of one .hundred Ii, a day. He first overtook the fugitives near AkMr (AUchour in the French), and engnged them there, but did not succeed in interoeptiug them. - The general soon afterwards (2ud September. 1759) received intelligence that the enemy had taken up a poeition in the mountains covering Badokbshan. He learned from a PunU or Kirghiz, thoroughly acquainted with the country, that the mountain in question wRS very lofty and precipit.ous. It lay between two lake.q, one on the Kashgar side C'8.lled Ptvlmig Kol, and one on the further side called lail-kol. The Chinese general surprised the enemy here by a night attack, but the Khoja and his chief officers escaped towards Dadakbshan. In a notice of the same events from the Chinese Imperial gcogrnphy, the second lake is called Ye,hil-kul.' It is of course the 18"al-kul, or Lake of Pamir Sare..' The Pu-long-kul is moot probably the Rang-kul of Little Pnmir; and the .Alcktlr of the Chinese general the Pamir Alkhtir of l\[ahomed Amfn. Its poBition seems nece8S8rily to be between the volley or T88h Kurghan, ond the lakes abovementioned; whilst an incidental notice by i..,aiz Bakbsh places it to the north or his route. On these hints I have R88igncd it a position in the mop. ln the Chineso map, as WP-11 BR in the geowa,phiral notice jnst referred to, wo find the TUB-ktil or Tilae-kUl. It is represented in the map as the main source of the rirnr flowing by Wokhon, Khandnt ond lRtnlkh, •~- or the Ponja. This seems to identif1 it with Lo.kc Victoria. But the name appears to be the 'J'nrk1sh Tu,-kul, or Salt Loke. lo Loke Victorin brackish? Wood, though noting that O the water emitted a slightly fetid smell, and waa of a reddish tinge," does not mention having tasted it. There is an_ &-i-Bhor, or Salt Rh·er, which appears to flow from the mountains on tho southern shore of ths lake into t be other or Sarhad branch of the Pa.nja, so there may be some foundation for such a namu on the shores of Lake Victoria. But it iN difficult to conceive that a lake with 80 eopioUB an eftluent as this hw:, in the northern branch of the Panjn, should haye salt waters. The chief problem as to U1e hydrography of Pamir ie the direction of discharge from KaraktiL The evidence is very Clmtro.dictory. ' Bee "Magaaio Aaialiqne." i., p. 93.

The oolioe iteelr la founded on the I ~ . , map alluded lo alp. liv.

lhUI t-:.ay, and makea the O:1a11 ft()w baclr.,nlll'le into ll1a la.kc• ar l'11mfr, 1 After tire Chinese 1X.onqnc.t II nnm-

()f

lnnlii

PROBLIIM AS TO DMINAOE 011' KARAKUL.

[-•·

Moat of the testimony collected by recent lravcllen tend• to throw it into the Oxoa. 1 8 th tho Mme from a Kirghiz ct;r at Kuhgar, viz., t11at the 80le ontl"t of the Karakul ~111 aouth and weot through tl1e hill• of l{anltigln. Manphngth in one of the lanes, o.boar, a grizzly•looking patriarch, was detected showing his tuehea. The Amir nodded and gave a gun to Captain llurnes; and had our gallant commander broken a bottle a hundred yards oft', his skill as a marksman could not lia,·e been more

Ca. I.]

HA WKINO.-AROHERY.

17

highly complimented than Cor slaughtering this huge boar at arm's length. A. few minutes more elapaed, when the underwood was seen to shake, and preeently a deer broke cover. He came dashing down the green lanes at a gallant pece, but ere he could clear the break be was despatched by a ball from Nur Mohamed's riOe. It was au excellent shot. We beat up two preeerves, but all the game they yielded was a couple of deer I and eight hoga · We next attended their Highnesses on a hawking excursion; but the banks of the lndus were not here sufficiently open Cor this old English pastime. The A.mfrs nevertheleas expatiated on the pleasure this sport aft'orded them, and enumerated the variety of birds in their possession, all which, they added, come from Afghanistan. Food was procured for the BD1aller of these Calcons by a kind of archery that I never saw practised elaewhere. There is nothing particular about either thu bow or the arrow, but in using the weapons the archer darted the arrow so

as to strike the object with its side instead of its head. The larks, which he was shooting, were picked up etunned by the shock, but alive.

Partridges are shot in the same manner.

At Lakkat I left my companions, and returned to H8Jder&b&d, from which plo.ce my examination of the lndus commenced, the section of the river south of the capital having been accomplished the preceding year. From this time I only met the mission occasionally when it halted at the large marts on the lndus, for the purpose of procuring information on their trade and commerce. • The kotaiecha, or hog-deer, ·

18

11.ALLA.-IU.NUFACTUBI! OF EARTHENWARE.

[Cn, 11.

CHAPTER ll. BalJa.->laD.nfacture of -.rtbenll'att.-Cbamaiab.-Buiu1 ol Jthod4Wd.-Altan al. Alesander.-OUon.-Bl•ck paruid,t"c.- C.Utle at Sibwao.-Rlffr and cropa.-Abeenoe or treea.-Pulla-flab,-Flllberh·a.-Dur-mJllllf.-Wullf Moha-

med LagbarC.-Anin.l or Dr. Lonl.-Aron,-Bulala.-lmportuuit.y of :Vakin. -Anec.dute.-B'hkur0 Rori, Sulr.ur.--Band atorm.-Dat.&le of Sukur,-A

llolaamodan'• beard. BSPABATED from head-quarters, and by the nature of my employment restricted to the river, our intercourae with the Bindls was now moatly confined to river-lying tribe& The country indeed holds out no temptation to atray inland, and but few of its towns repay the visitant for the trouble he is at in getting to them, Ilalla and Khodabad we had been informed were exceptiona; and on the 21at of February, being abreast of theee places, I paid them a visit. Balla is divided into the old and new town. The last division is much the larger of the two, and is the m01t conaiderabla plaee between Haiderabacl and Sibwan. Like the last mentioned town, it derives no small degree of importance from the shrine of a Mohemedan saint, that of Plr Mukdum Nu. The land around is highly impregnated with 111111, and whet little cultivation I noticed is confined to an old bed of the Indua, close to the smaller Hallo. The bazar is partially roofed, but however effectual the covering may be as a defence against the aun, it does not keep out rain, for when "'e were here the ground beneath it was a perfect puddle, The buatle of its bazar showed that the place was thriving ; and if agriculture does not 8ouriah, the mechanical arts apparently do. Halla has been long noted for its exet11lent earthenware and Sindian

c..n.J

CHU:SNIAH.-RUINB

m•

KHODABAD.

19

capo. The latter being national, are worn by all classea, rich ~nd poor, privileged and oppressed. The proeperity of the capmaker is evinced by numerous symbols of his cran in the shape of stont round-headed posts, which, standing out in the streets, fronting the ehop-door, are more like kerb stones than signpost,. The manufacture of earthenware is confined to the new tnwn. Here are two establishments, one employing six furnaces, and the other two. The clay is taken from the bed of the Indns, and the wheel upon wbfoh it is worked is evidently the potter's wheel of Scripture. The patterns are various, nnd such as are intended to contain rose.water, or slabs for tho decoration of

tombs, are tastefully execnted, the latter especially being remarka.ble for warmth of tone and brilliancy of colour. The metallic oxilame, will one day be supplied with British manufactureo. Whet io further favourable to Dhera Ghazi Khan becoming an emporium of trade io the festival ·or Sukkf Sor,.ar, which is yearly l1eld in the gorge of ita moontain-paao. The rejoicings continue for five dayo, and bring together from districts far apart the saint's numerous followero. Many thousands of peraono are thua congreguted, and, while the fair laata, the otreeta of Dhera Ghazi are thronged with merehanta and devote...

WRESTLING IIATOBES.

CR.IV.]

40

Whilo here, we hod an opportunity of observing how MDMulmons on the lndua apend their Sunday (our J,'riday) when dwelling in a town. In the auburba a large oonoou- of people had """'mbled. They formed a hollow aqnare, within which were the palw.M, or combatants, the muaicians, and a Cew Beik Sinlura. Beik aoldiera paraded to keep onler in the crowd, while their officer■ preaided as umpirea and diatributed the rewanla. The spectator■ were of both penuaai0111, M1111Dlmana and llindu. Tho palwana were lllohamedana. I inquired of a ,Iecrepit and aged man the nature of these holiday recreations, when he replied with a aigh, "Ah Agha Jan,' in bygone timea wo had gamoa ond other sports. Under the Dnran!o the victor had a hone ·given to him, or he wu crowned in the ring, amidst the ahonts of his townamen, with a Kashmir shawl, or had a golden-hilted awonl presented to him ; but those pooplo" (added the aareaatie old man, a■ he eaat a glance of contempt upon tbo Seiks within the ring) • give you a doputtab." • The musicians atrnck np, and two young men ea.me form1rd to wreatlo. Striking the palm of the right hand against tbe folded left arm, they adv,moed to tho centre of the ring, where, after amearing their hands and arma with sand, tboy atood on their defence. Eyeing each other with an eager and steady look, they pansed for aome time, measuring their adveraary, each endeavouring to cloae with aome advantage. At length tbey met, when, graaping each other'• arma, their head■ touching, the encounter for 10me time coutinued much after the manner of a mm-fight. Violent struggling followed, each trying to gel his head under the breast of his opponent, which, when aoeomplisbed, the fall was sure. In this way one of the men waa thrown, and while another match was arranging two children were led into the ring, and wonderful indeed were the gymnaatio feats of theae minor performers. They threw numerona aomeraauhs, and bopped on one foot round the ring. N 8"t, they swung their arms to and fro, jerking at the same time the body from an inclined to an upright pooition. Then, stretcbiug tbemselvea along the ground, face downwanla, they roae to tho full length of their arma, and kept repeating the movement, 1

Angli~,

11

your honour."

: A lightlll'Uf'.

60

ALTERA'l'ION IN THE RIVER.

[Ca.IV.

rising and lowering the chest, whilst only the hands and toes were permitted to touch the gronnd; thna the mDBClea of the body were brought into play, but more especially these of the cheat and arms. The children were not more than five yeara old. This exercise however, though violent, woa play to these little fellows, for they were not stimulated by rewardo, but did it apparently to amuse themselves, none of the bystanders, except the Seiks within the circle, taking any notice of their play ; and when called out of the ring to make room for another wrestling-match, they were as sprightly and fresh as when they entered it. ShouleterdaJ; whilst opinioDII whlt·h lho author may haYe ooeuion&lly buanlecl a, lo the probahilitillll or the folure hnn, ran,ly been prol'OO enuoeot111 by the experienoo or llm'J' )'l'&l'L ·

110

JIAP OF AFOUANISTAN.

[OR,XI.

CHAPTER XI. llnp or AFgbaDiataa.-lfflinte or Koh Dunan.-Kabal nce-eoane.-Shuknr Dmah.-A noble p,aapect.-Draaty or &be IICCIKTJ.-Gardona of Danow o.nd l•&al•F.-Baher'1 deecrlptlan ol l.talaf'.-Grw,l abadi,noo of Crait.-Plaln

&gr.m.-Oolm.-Tarldab .-tdera.-Bolg Bann, or the moring and.-Ziuall.-Dod Mobml-d. Kha'• belier.

of

ONE of the objects which Captain Burnes had greatly at heart was to obtain materials for the construction of an entirely new map of Afghanistan, in which actnal anney should sopenede hearsay information. In prooecution of this design, we bad not been long iu Kabul before he obtained its ruler's permillion to visit the Koh Daman; and I shall venture to give a brief description of this fair province, although it 11ill aomewhat interrupt the narrative of my travels. The valley of Koh Daman lies north of Kabul, from which it is separated by a low creeping ridge, not far from the town. At the upper extremity of this T&lley rises tl1e anowy peab of Hindu Koob, while those of Pagman overlook it on the west. To the eoat it is bordered by a lower ra,ige, which decre88t.'I in height os it goes 100th, until it links into the low ridge cro■1ing the bottom of the valley. So enclosed, the Koh Daman has a length of thirty-one miles and a medium width of seven. The westem aide of the valley is much higher than the eaatom, along which the drainage of the oppoaito mountain flows. From the base of the Pagman Q1uch dlbru, splintored rocky fragments, and heavy boulders, are strewed over the plain, having been loosened hy the winter'• frost from the granite peaks above. The aides of these mountains are split by numerous ravinM, down which come tumbling rills of the purest water. 'fhe olopes of their rugged channels are thickly planted with th•

Ca.XI.J

PROVINCE OF KOii DAMAN.

111

mulberry, and every moderately level apot is clad with fruit treea or the vine. 'fhe mountains at the head or the valley throw out three stream&, which are named Ghorbund, Panvan, and Panchahir. The latter issues rrom the north....st comer or Koh Daman, and the Ghorbun,I Crom ita north-west. The Parwan, which tlows between the other two, unites about four miles below the hills with the river or Ghorbnnd, which, thns augmentc it by popular trndition. Geogmphically the site of thcae n1ins is remarkable, as beiug the junction of the two streams which form the south-west fork of the Kunduz river. On quitting Damian we crossed the PaSB of Akrohat, and arrived at a small valley on its north side. Our reception at this place, where we first entered the dominions of Murad Ali Beg, was not very cordial ; for the govemor of this elevated ' and ungenial district, on hearing of our approach, quitted his fort and left Mirza Buddi to look elsewl1ere for SDJ>plies. llefore reaching this valley we SBW 011 the way-,,ide a very remarkable stone, known by the name of Juring-juringi. It io a cube of eight feet and of a iircen colour. When struck by any hard SDbstaoce it rings like bell metal. 'fo Akrobst succeeded the valley of Sykan, inhabited by Tajib, being the first of that race we had 888D north of Hindu Kosh. The llazara are now no longer met with in distinct eocieties, but nre incorporated with the Tajiko, whose protection they purchase by an outward compliance with the orthodox religion. Sykan otanda in a fruitfnl vale; its mountains also yield larb,e qnantiti"" of 8888fnstido, and the districts where it grows io ao regularly apportioned out to individual• ao the oom-lleldo in the plain, nnd the property in it as rnrefully guardc~I. ThA produ.-, of 1

Akmbat ia 10,200

r«-1 abnve the era.

u 2

182

SLAVE TWDUTE.-KUIRUD.

[Ca.XIII.

this plant is usually bought up by the chie(s, and acid at a monopolising price to Ka61as in their transit through the eow,try. At Sykan we met a man or the Deb K11nd( tribe, bringing part of the yearly slave tribute to Kunduz. The able-bodied alaves were chained together; the aged, who were too infirm to walk, rode on donkeye, and behind them were bonnd children, whnse extreme youth rendered \hem happily unconscious of the home they had lei\ and the liberty they had Jost. They oil or them were squalid and dirty, and the ragged pieces of clothing that hung from their shonlden were bnt a poor substitute for covering. One haggard old woman, on whnse lineaments Time had traced many a wrinkle, presented an appearance scarcely bnman ; she was a humiliating sight. From Sykan we d....nded by the P&88 of" Dundan Shikun," or the II Tooth-breaker," into the valley of Kamrud~/and remained during the night with a Tajik chief named Rabmutulah Khan, the same drunken old man who ao piteonsly bewailed his empty llagon to Captain Burnes'• party in 1832. Kamrud supplies a large body of water to the Kllllduz river. U uder its fort this stream had a width of twenty-four feet, a moon depth of two, and an average current of four miles and a half an hour. Ila oource is at the head of the valley, where it issues from an aperture in the rook. Here is the Ziarat of Khaji Abdullah, much resorted to in the hot months, but now rendered inaccessible by ice and BDOW. Summer and winter, the volome of water of this mineral spring is unaltered in bulk. It now had a temperature of 48°, thot of the air being 34°. The fort of Kamrad is 5,600 feet above the sea. In very mountainous regions. the occasional violence or the streoms is adverse to the employment of water as a moving power ; still, throughout the ParopamDSion chain, both east and west of the Indus, com mills driven by water are very frequently met with. 'fhe mountaineer, taking advantage of his situation, erocta that simplest of machines, the water wheel, and is enabled to grind his com with eass and at little eost, an operation which, when performed by manual labour, is the severest tax on the cultivator of the ground. In many

CII.Xm.J

MIRZA DUDDl'S TENANTRY.

133

localities this water powur could be vartly increased, and atreama, portions or which are now only employed lo tum a few commills, might be made anbeervient to the production of tboae articlea of clothing, which, al preaent, after they have half circumnavigated the globe, are porehaaed by the inhabitant& of the very region• where the mw material ia produced. For aoeh a porpoae, few plaeea are more favourable than the valley of Kamrud ; bot radical m111t be the changea wrought in the habita of theae people before the man-seller will betake himself lo so honest an employment, and the blood feuds of eenturiea be quenched. Still such blesaings may one day attend the march of civilization; aome powerful c,hief, fixing himaelf on one or the other aide of the anowy chain, may have strength to oontrol these turbnlent sons of the mountnin, and give a. direction to their cncll,rics more fayoumblo to civilization.

Glena that now only echo the matchlook's report, may then as closely resemble SwitzPrland in the moral chameler of their peasantry, as they do in their scenery and local ad ,antages. As we rontinued our journey by the road familiar lo all tmvellers into Turkistan, I need not particularize ita stages; they hove already been frequently described, On the 28th we ruacbed Khurm, the estate of Mirm Boddi. His aon and aome of his t.enantry came a few miles to meet him, and welcome him back; and no one who witnesaed his warm reception could have auapected that under this show of all'ection mnked the deepeat animoaity; yet aueb waa the case, for shortly after we quitted the country, poor Mina Boddi waa barbarously murdered in bis own house. In the Khorm valley we overtook another alave party Crom the Hazsra country. The ownera, lo the BBlonisbmeot of our party, were men of Kabul They appeared greatly mortified at being seen by ns, hung down their henda, and wished, but in vain, lo eaoape notice. The Khirakuahea recognised them as inhabitants of Chardeh, a plain in the vicinity of Kabul, and at once charged them with carrying OD a trsllie, as degrading to an Afghan aa it is accounted honourable in an Uzbek. They were asked how they could face their clansmen after sneb disreputable conduct. In extenuation of their eonduct, they

134

HEFLECl'lU~S.

. [CH. XIII.

1dated1 that after trading to a considerable e:ztent with tho Hazara, and waiting tweh-e months for a settlement of tl1eir

claims, they had been unable to obtain payment. The correctness of the demand wao readily acknowledged, aud slaveo, va1ued, It is, however, foreign to my purpoze to descant more at large on the wandering hordes that now occupy thc,,e wilds ; y~t so interesting is all connected with thCffe shepherd tribes, which more than once have overrun Europe and Asia, that I could not omit gMng the subject a Jl888ing notice. The Uzbeks of Khunduz have genuine Tartar features, though the physiognomy of their chieu is becoming softened by intermRrriage with the Tajik, a Caucasian race whom I belie,·e to be the indigenous inhabitants of Per.in, and perhapa or 'frnnsoxia.oa also, and who are now fonnd widely scattered on both sides of the Paropamasian chain. A Tajik is not permitted to marry the daughter of an Uzbek; but this nnjuat distinction is the only social ditrerence that now exists between them. The Uzbeka are Suni Mohamedana, and consider o.n intolerant persecution of the other sect as the beat evidence of

142

INFLUENCE OF TUt; IIULLAUS.

[Ca.XIV.

the sincerity of their own fuith and of thoir attoel,ment to the Prophet. They are 111noh fettered by their priests, or Ishan Kojahs, to whom they yield implicit obedience in all thing,,, temporal and spiritual. Whatever may be thought of the etreet produced by this influential class 011 Mohamedan society generally, I do not hesitate to aay, that among the Uzbeks it is the revono of good. 'fheae mullahs, or prieats, are the moat notorioua slave dealers in the land, and encourage the odio111 traffic amo11g their disciples, by readily purchasing of them whatever victims of the Shiah creed they may entrap. The good of the aoul is 011igned 88 ample extenuation, and religion here, 88 but too olren hu been the caao elaewhore, becomes a rnre thus saved the dishcartcniog toil of forcing a path through an unbroken, though imperfectly, frozen surface. Aftor partwg with these

Cu. :U:L]

WILWWS.-SNOW EKCAJIPKE!IT.

2211

atrangen, we arrived at a copse of red willows; and aa no other opportunity of p10C11ring Srewood would oll'er between it and the head of the Ox118, we halted, and cut down, or rather dug out from under the snow, aa much fuel oa our already jaded hones could carry. Tho b118hea were stunted, the tallest not much exceeding the height or a man, and they ext.•nded for a quarter or a mile along the banks or the river, in a patch or swampy ground. It waa dark before we reached tho spot whieh our guides had selected (or the night'• bivouae; but we were now on the Kirghiz ground, with every inch of which they seemed familiar. Quitting the river, they atruek into a lateral defile to our left, and after "·indiug up it for another hour, pointed to a cold, ugly looking apot, buried three feet deep in mow, as our quarten1 for the night. We remonstrated, at which the Kirghiz laughed, and, seizing t11;eir wooden shovels, soon drew from the aoil below an ample store or firing, in the shape of sheep's and camel's dung. The eligibility of the place for a night's lodging was now put dispute; no other recommendation was neeesssry; and what with the fire we were tl1us enabled to keep up through the night, and the high and warm anow-walls that soon encircled our wintry habitation, we bad all great reaaon to thank our e11Cort for bringing us to ouch a favoured spot. The unmounte, a few ■trokes of the pick-au produced an es.haUBtion that ■tretched us upon the ■now to recruit our breath. By dint, however, of unwearied exertions and frequent reliefs, we bad all but carried the shaft through, when an imprudent stroke fractured ita bottom, and up the water jetted to the height of a mau, aending UB oeampering oft" in all direetionL Thi■ opening wa■ too ■mall to admit our ■ounding-lead, and had of neceasity to be abandoned ; beside■, a wet jacket where the thermometer ia at zero i■ a much more aeri0111 aft"air than where it is at 1ummer-heat. We re■olved to he more circum ■peet in onr next attempt, and diligent search having revealed to UB a large atone upon au islet in the lake, it wa■ forthwith tmnsportcd to the scene of our labou?L When, judging by the depth of the firet abaft, we concluded the seeond to be nearly through, the alone w88 raised and upheld by four men immediately above the hole. A fifth man continued to ply the as.e, and at the first appearsnce of water the stone was dropped in and went clean through the ice,

C& lll.J

EFFECTS OF A RAREFIED ATMOSPHERE.

287

leaving DD aperture its own size, and from thia larger orifice there was no rash of water. The sounding-lead was immediately thrown in, when, much to my 8U?priJe and disappointment, it struck bottom at nine feet, and we had prepared and brought with us from Langer Kish a hundred fathoms of line for the e:r.perimeot. The water e1ui1ted a slightly fetid •mell and "81 of a reddioh tinge. The bottom waa oozy 1111d tangled with grassy weedo. I tried to meaaure the breadth of tbe lake by sound, but woa b110led by the rarety of the air. A musket, loaded with blank cartridge, sounded as if the charge )u,d been poured into the barrel, and neither wads nor ramrod used. When ball waa introduced the report ,... louder, but possceaed none of the aharpness that marks a aimilar charge in demer atmospheres. The ball, however, could be distinctly heard whizzing through the air. The human voice was sensibly affected, and convenatioo, especially if in a loud tone, could not be kept up without exhaustion : the slightest mUJCUlar exertion waa attended with a eimilor result. Half a dozen strokes with an a1e brought the workman to the ground; and though a few minutes' respite sufficed to restore the breath, anything like continued e:r.ertion waa impoaaiblo. A run of fifty yards at full speed made the runner gaap for breath. Indeed, this exerciae produced a pnin in the lungs nod a general prostration of strength which waa not got rid of for many hounL Some of tho party complained of dizzineBB and headaches ; but, except the etfects above deacribed, I neither felt myselt nor perceived in otheni, any of those painful results or great elevation which travellen, have mtrered in ascending llloot Blanc. This might have been anticipated, for where the transition from a dense to a highlyrorifted atmosphere is ao sudden, as in the cue or ascending that mountain the circulation cannot be e1.pected to accommodate itaclf at once to the dift'erence of pressure, and violence must accrue to some of the more sensitive organs of the body. The ucent to Pamir was, on the contrary, so gradual that BOme e1.trinaic circumstances were neceaaary to remind us of the altitude we bad attained. The etreet of great elevation upon the general oystem had indeed been proved ta me some time

i'UJ.SA'l'IONS Dl'ON PAllllR.

288

[Cir.

xxr.

before in a manner for which I WIii not prepared. One evening in Badakhahan, while sitting in a brown atudy over the fire, I chanced to touch my pnlae, and the galloping rate at which it was throbbing rouaed my attention. I at once took it for granted that I waa in a raging fever, and after peruoing aome hints on the preaenation of health which Dr. Loni, at parting, had kindly drawn out for me, I forthwith preacribed for myaelf moat liberally. Next moming my pulae 11·aa aa brisk as ever, but otill my feelings denoted health. I now thought of examining the wriata of all our party, and to my surpriae found that the pulaee of my companio11s beat yet faater than my own, The canoe of this incn,aaed cirenlation immediately occurred to me ; and when we afterwarda commenced marching toward■ W akhan I fell the pulaea of the party whenever I regiatered the boiling point of water. The motion of the blood ia in fact a aorl of living barometer by which a man acquainted with hia own habit of body can, in great altitudes, roughly celonlate hia height above tbe aea. Upon Pamir the pulsationa in one

minute were aa Collow :11, .... Gholam Blllmn, llanabl oinerallah, mlllu-drit'er . Gafl'er, groom Dowd, do.

........

Coaatry •

110 l:lf

Smtland J""""""'8

12< "'

Peehawuroe

n•

Argl1■n

Kobull

n_.,

-·

.... """"' .....

·oloul

The danger we incurred in sleeping literally amongst the mow, in tbe middle of winter, al the great elevation of 15,600 feet, did not occur to me at the time : we were most fortunate in having done ao with impunity. Fate! aeeidenta from this very cause are of frequent occurrence in the Bimalaya, as we leam from the late Capt. Alexander Gerard'• narrative.' But, indeed, that drowsine•, which cold engender■, and which ends in death, baa been made familiar to us all by the intereating voyage■ of Capt. Cook. The miafortunea that befel Dr. Solancler and his botanising party in Term-del-t'uego ia aa touchingly told an incident aa any in that attractive work. , eeeuNnnatlve or a Joamo,rrom. O.wnpoor lo lhe Himalara, lloan&lllm,"

byJlajorSirWilliamlJOJd ■ndOervd.

11..aden and. Co.. London.

Oa.llXI.]

SNOW LINE.

239

Our escape is, under Providence, to be attributed to the oceans of tea we drank. The kettle wea never off' the fire when we were encamped; indeed, throughout the whole of OUJ' wanderings, except when feasted in Jerm, the Munshi and myself lived almost entirely upon it. We used the decoction, not the infusion, and always brewed it strong. Another preservative was the firing we kept up and the precaution of sleeping with our feet towards it. The height of the snow-line in this parallel is above 17,000 feet. A1:1 I visited PBJD.ir in the winter season I could not my1elf have ocular demonstration of this interesting fact; hut that the ice upon the lake is broken up, and the hills in its neighbourhood clear of snow, by the end of June, are facts in which my informants, the Khirghiz, could not possibly be mistaken. At that senson, it is said, the water 8Wftl111B with aquatic birds, which, as the winter approaches, migrate to warmer regions: many are killed by the cold. The lake is a favourite resort of the Kirghiz, and no sooner is the snow off the ground than its banks are studded with their kirgnhs. A spot better adapted to the wants of a pastoral community cannot well be imagined, and the hordes that frequent it seem fully to appreciate ite advantages, since they are never weary of expatiating upon them. The grass of Pamir, they tell you, is so rich, that a sorry horse is here brought into good condition in less than twenty days; and its nourishing qualities are evidenced in the productiveness of their ewes, which almost invariably bring forth two lambs at a birth. Their ftocks aud herds roam over an unlimited extent of swelling grusy hills of the sweetest and richest pasture, while their ynks luxuriate amid the snow nt no great distance above their encampment on the plains.' After getting a clear and beautiful meridian altitude of the sun on the 20th, we saddled, and casting a last look at Lake Sir-i-kol, entered the defile leading to Wakhan. As we increased our distance from Pamir, the hillocks on each side 1 Wo ftnd Marco Po1o, who ..em.a to havo allowed little to cat'ape him, commenting IWO upon Lhe wonderful

proporli