Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir; in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara, ... from 1819 to 1825. Prepared from the press from original journals and correspondence by H. H. Wilson

Front matter

TRAVELS IN THE HIMALAYAN PROVINCES OF HINDUST. AND THE PANJAB , IN LADAKH AND KASHMIR; IN PESHAWAR, KABUL, KUNDUZ, A:cn BOKHARA; BY Mr. WILLIAM MOORCROFT aud Mr. GEORGE TREBECK, FROM 1819 TO 1825. Prepared for the Press, from Original Journals and Cjrrespondence, By HORACE HAYMAN WILSON, MA., F.R.S , MEMBER OF TOE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, AND OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF PATHS AND . UTTA; OF THE IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF NATURALISTS OF MOSCOW; OF THE JCOVAL ACADEMIES OF BERLIN AND MUNICH, ETC. ETC. . AND PROFESSOR OF SANSCRIT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. Published under the Authority of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXLI. LONDON: Punted by William Clo wks and Sons, Stamford Street. - ■ ■ I.) SIR JAMES RIVETT CARNAC, BART. CHAIRMAN, SIR JAMES LAW LUSHINGTON, K.C.B., DEPUTY CHAIRMAN, AND THE MEMBERS OF THE HONORABLE THE COURT OF DIRECTQRS OF , THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

Gentlemen, I take the liberty of dedicating the following pages to you as the present representatives of a body to which I am under many and great obligations, and to which I am therefore glad of an opportunity to offer my public acknowledg ments. a2 DEDICATION. IV A like sense of obligation to the Court ol Directors collectively, as well as to many oi its individual members, was warmly cherished by the principal person engaged in the enterprise here described ; and had Mr. Moorcroft survived to have been the narrator of his own travels, I doubt not that he would have availed himself of the same opportunity to have given utterance to similar feelings. But I am further induced to inscribe these pages to your Honourable Court, by the per suasion, that at no period of its existence as a public body, did it comprise a larger proportion of members competent to take a sound and en lightened view of the true interests of British India and of the countries on its confines ; and disposed to encourage every judicious effort of the Company's servants to acquire an accurate know ledge of the nations around them, to establish and maintain a friendly intercourse with whom will not only promote the commercial and poli tical prosperity of Great Britain and her Indian DEDICATION.

V possessions, but may effect the still more important end of teaching to yet semi-barbarous tribes the advantages of industry and civilization. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obliged and obedient Servant, II. H. Wilson. London, Uth Sept ember, 1837. i 48 CONTENTS OF VOL. I

Chapter I

Detention at Joshimath — Journey to Srinagar — Trout in the Alakananda — Gold dust — Jhula over the river — Use of horses in mountain journeys — Tiri — Scanty population — Raja Sudarsan Sah— Practice of Barat — Tiger trap — Wolves — Nalapani — Kalanga — Dehra — Cross the Jumna into Sir mor — Karda dun — Markanda river — Nahan — Sikh territory — Raipur — Bees — Pinjore — Enclosed garden — Hindur — Re ascent ofthe mountains— Malaun — Kahalur — Bilaspur — Its capital — Mode of crossing the Setlej on skins — Sukhet valley — Raj of Mundi — Progress stopped hy Sikh interference — Departure for Lahore

Chapter II

Resources of the hills — Paper from the Sitahharua — Lichen for mucilage — Honey and wax — Fir and oak timber — Fruits — Madder — Hemp — Turpentine — Cattle — Birds — Fish — Fishing-line — Improvements dependant on European settlers

Chapter III

Defile of Alexander — The King's Camp — Confluence of the Sir and Lag— Mahal— View of Kamla-gerh — Nadaun— The Byas River — Visit to Jwala-mukhi — Temple ofthe God- CONTENTS. VIII Page pi 107 dess — Inflammable Gas— Saline Springs— Return to Na daun; its Decay— Resumption of Route — Rajpura—Tem porary Detention — Descent to the Plains — Detention at Hoshyarpur— Mir Izzet Ullah despatched to Amritsar—Per mission from Ranjit Sinh to proceed— Advance to the Panjab — Jelalabad — Bhyrowal— Amritsar — Arrival at Lahore — Shahlimar — Baraderi— Visit from Aziz ad Din — Audience of Ranjit Sinh— The Raja's Horses— Interviews with the Raja —His Familiarity — Anecdotes of Himself— Audience of Leave — Permission to go to Bokhara, by way of Kulu, or Kashmir — Account of Lahore

Chapter IV

Shahdehra— Tomb of Jehangir Shah— Appa Sahib the ex- Raja of Nagpur— Phular Sinh Akali— Manufacture of Shawls at Amritsar — Jindiala— Recall to Lahore— Indisposition of Ranjit Sinh— Second departure from Lahore-Stud of Fatteh Sinh Aluwala — Sikh religious Establishment— Cholera at Amb— Magar Mai the Collector of the Revenue — Assessment of Land — Robbery at Koloa — Thannadar of Rajpura — Dains or Witches— Sujanpur — Europeans in the Raja's employ — Raja Sansar Chand— His Family— His political Misfortunes— Gorkha Invasion — Blockade of Koth-Kangra — Its Cession to Ranjit Sinh— Paramount Authority of the Sikh — Detention of Mr. Trebeck and Party at Mundi— Reference to Ranjit — Dangerous Illness of the Raja's Brother — Native Treatment — His Recovery — Gratitude of the Family — Advance of the Party from Mundi — Mode of catching Quails — Departure from Sujanpur — Account of Kotoch and of its Raja — Fre quency of Satis ....

Chapter V

March from Sujanpur — Palace at Bijapur — Cultivation the Binoa River — Baidyanathpur — Fertility of the Lands - Forts of Mundi — Stone Bridge over the Gugli — Hindu CONTENTS. IX Page 147 183 Tepi pies — Sculptured Feet —Vegetable Tinder— Town of Gumha— Salt Mines— Buza Beer— Heavy Rain — Village of Hulhu — Annual conflict of Wizards and Witches — Uttar Sal River and Village — Pass of Tilakpur — Prospect— Syri— Ba jaura — Hindu Temple— Sultanpur, the capital of Kulu — Raja's Palace — Meeting with Mr. Trebeck — His Journal — Mundi — Byas River — Raja of Mundi — Salt Mines— Iron — Tiri — Festival of Adi Brahma — Bajaura — Deatn of the Rani — People of Kulu — Parbati River — Hot Springs of Mani Karn — Legend of their origin — Raja of Kulu — Vazir Sobha Ram — Fruit Trees — Unhealthiness of the Climate — Dress and Diet of the People — Departure

Chapter VI

Valley of the Byas — Ancient Capital of Kulu — Mineralized Springs at Bashisht — Limit of Rice Cultivation- — End of the Kulu Valley- — Ralha river — Ascent of Ses dhar — Source of the Byas — Image of Byas Rikhi — Pass of Ritanka joth — Chandra-bhaga, or Chandra River — Province of Lahoul — Village of Kuksar — Monumental Piles— Sculptured Stones — Currant and Gooseberry Bushes — Junction of the Surajbhaga— Course of the Chandrabhaga to the Plains — Source and Course of the Ravi — Tandi — Grain Store ofthe Raja of Kulu — Dress of the People of Lahoul — Of the men — Of the women — Ornaments and Implements — Willows — Villages — Gardens — Apples — Tartarian Wheat — Flocks of Sheep — Dharm Sinh— Lahoul Carriers — Tatar Cookery — Gniungti river — Last Village in Lahoul — Sacred Trees — Falling Mountain — Chukam River and Lake — Baralacha Pass — Natural Drains — Yunam Lake and River — Shattered Rocks— Fragments of Stone — Conglomerate Columns — Boundary between Lahoul and Ladakh — Pass of Lacha-lung — Insulated Rocks — Fantastic Cliffs — Plain of Kiung — Parties of Tatars- Hares — Ladakh Visitants— Pass of Tung-lung— Snow Clouds — Village of Rum-chu — Flight of Villagers— Approach to the town of Giah .... X CONTENTS. Page 229 258

Part II. Chapter

I. Meeting with Abdul Latif— Visit of Mir Izzet Ullah to the authorities— Audience of the Raja and Khaga Tan-zin— Buttered and salted Tea— Visit of the Raja — Journey resumed—Praying Cylinder — Letter from the Khalun prohibit ing advance— Rocks— Action of the Weather—Sinh-kha bab, or Indus — Village of Marsilla — Head Lama— Cardinal's Hat — Old Telescope — Villages of Changa— Thik-se — Gompha — Meeting with Khaja Shah Nyas— His History— His friendly interposition— Valley of Chu-shut— Entrance into Le— Monuments — Apprehensions of the Khalun— Public Audience — Audience Chamber — Europeans on the Frontier — Caravans from Lassa and Yarkand— Communications with Shah Nyas and Izzet Ullah— Proposed Commercial Treaty- Delays — Reference to Gardokh— To Lassa— Treaty con cluded

CHAPTER II.

Description of Ladakh— Limits— Extent— Surface— Rivers — Indus — Sinh-kha-bab — Its tributaries — Feeders of the Setlej —Soil— Climate— Agriculture— Grains —Wheat—Bar ley—Varieties of both — Grasses— Prangos— Vegetables- Fruits —Apricots —Apples —Willows - Poplars— Animals — Minerals

CHAPTER III.

Divisions — Le, the Capital — Construction of Houses — Palace of the Raja— Population— Revenue— Domestic In stitutions—Dress—Ornaments— Diet— Government — Raja Chief Officers— Historical Notices— Religion— Lamas— Reli gious Assemblies — Figures of Chenresi — Chamba— Dra- CONTENTS. XI Pagc 315 360 383 418 matic Representation — Masks —Amusements — Mohamme danism — Commerce —Wool Trade— Shawl Wool — Sheep's Wool — Asli Tus — Tea — Teas of Bisahar i — Miscellaneous Articles — Geneial Character of the Trade— Whether to be in the possession of Britain or Russia .

CHAPTER IV.

Notices of adjacent Countries — Chan-than — Rodokh — Gar dokh — Yarkand — Khoten ....

CHAPTER V.

Proceedings at Le — Account of Aga Mehdi, the Russian Envoy — Excursions — Visit to Nobra — Sabu — Digar — Pass — Shayuk River — Churasa — Lokjun — Tazar — Rustic Hospi tality — Hot Springs — Return by Undar — Tinder — Combing of shawl-wool Goats — Imitated by Wild Animals — Arrival at Le — Mr. Trebeck fired at — Excursion to Knarung — Pithul — Sinh-kha-bab crossed — Pass of Kandu La — Marka River — Temple — Medicinal Spring of Knarung — Return — Conflu ence of the Sinh-kha-bab and Zanskar Rivers

CHAPTER VI.

Political Relations of Ladakh with Ranjit Sinh — Tender of Allegiance to the British Government of India — Commu nicated through Mr. Moorcroft — Displeasure of the Govern ment — Mir Izzet Ullah despatched to Yarkand — Journey to Kag-jung — Chushut — Marsilla — Sakti — Lamas at Chumri — Hospitality of the Banka — Hares not eaten — Mode of pre serving Plants— Chakors — Pass of Chang La — People and Baggage benighted on the descent — Intense cold, and want of Fuel and Provisions — Lake of Las Marma — Gigantic Chakor — Durgukh Village and River— Muglib — Tswar Lake — Extensive Lake of Pang-kung — Chushul — Haunts of the Kiang, or Wild Horse — Messenger from Rodokh — Letters from Le — Mr. Mooreroft's Return — Journey continued by Mr. Trebeck ..... CONTENTS. Page 438

Chapter VII

Pass of Tsaka La — Plain of Kag-jung, near the Sinh-kha bab — Boundary of Ladakh — La Ganskiel pass — Messengers from Rodokh and Gardokh — Herds of Kiangs — Speed — Colour — Size — Return— Man-bar pass — Plain of Long Kong ma — Cattle — Shepherds — Tank-tse — Merry-making — Pony race — Durgukh — Chang-la pass — Severe Cold — Man frozen to death — Negotiations at Yarkand — Arrival of Messengers from Kashgar — Reply of the Khalun — Misrepresented by the Kashmirians — Other Letters prepared — Mir Izzet Ullah dismissed from Yarkand — First Dispatch sent by Abdul Latif — Proceedings at Le — Disputes with Kulu and Balti — Sedi tious Placard .

Preface

. The practical illustration of Geographical Science has at no period been prosecuted in this country with more unremitting diligence than in the present day. Travellers and tourists of all descriptions follow hard upon every change in the social condition or political relations of those countries with which we have long been familiar, whilst those of more adventurous spirit, or more ambitious pretensions, undertake to make known to us the character of man, and the features of nature, in the least frequented and least civilized parts of the earth. Amidst all this bustle of curiosity and activity of science, it seems strange that Eastern Asia should be comparatively overlooked. Foremost in the march of civilization, and offering a wide and inter esting field for investigation, there is no portion of this division of the globe which has been thoroughly explored, whilst there are very considerable tracts of it yet unvisited by any European traveller. Even the British possessions in the East, rich in

PREFACE.

. objects of attraction for every observer, whether of man or nature, and, except in regard to distance, readily accessible to research, yet want a traveller, or a series of travellers, having the leisure as well as the ability to portray with truth and accuracy their natural wealth or social singularities : whilst of the countries upon their confines, to the east and to the north, we know less than we do of the central deserts of Africa. The whole of the inter vening country between India and China is a blank ; and of that which separates India from Russia, the knowledge which we possess is but in a very slight degree the result of modern Euro pean research, and is for the most part either un authentic or obsolete. The statements of Chinese geographers, or the details to be gleaned from Persian historians and biographers, are calculated only to be a substitute for accuracy, and are preferable alone to utter ignorance ; and the tra vels of Carpini, Rubruquis, Marco Polo, and the Jesuit Missionaries, even if they were more com prehensive and trustworthy than they are, were performed under circumstances not less different from the present in central Asia than in Europe.

Such authorities, therefore, are wholly inadequate to the demands of the present age, and, except in a few of the great unalterable landmarks of then several routes, leave, as it were, yet undescribed some of the most interesting countries of the East :

PREFACE.

. XV countries which have been sometimes considered as the cradle of civilization, and which we know were, at no very remote date, the prolific source of the fierce and innumerable hordes that, under Jangez and Timur, devastated Asia and filled Europe with alarm. Some attempts, it is true, have been made of late years to supply the deficiency, especially on the part of Russia, which has an obvious interest in acquiring a correct acquaintance with the districts along her southern frontier, whether for the exten sion of science, of commerce, of influence, or of power. The whole amount of her efforts we can not well appreciate, from the very little conver sancy that exists in this country with Russian literature. According to a competent authority*, articles relating to northern and central Asia are of daily appearance in the periodical journals of Russia; and we have in the more important tra vels of Mouravief, Meyendorff, and Timkowski, sufficient proofs of activity and intelligence at work upon either extremity of a long and important line.

The commendable advance thus made by Russia from the north should be met by a corresponding movement from the south, and the government of British India, without being actuated by either illi beral jealousy or unworthy apprehensions, ought, * J. Klaproth. — Magasin Asiatique. Prospectus.

PREFACE.

XVI both for the diffusion of knowledge and the pro* motion of its own commercial and political inter ests, to co-operate with its powerful neighbour for the purpose of dissipating the mist which still en velops the geography of central Asia. The object, although not very adequately or connectedly pursued, has from time to time re ceived encouragement. The embassy of Mr. Elphinstone to Kabul, in 1808, although for a special purpose, and limited to a particular locality, was the means of introducing us to much new knowledge of countries beyond the Indian Cau casus ; and more recently, the travels of Lieut. Burnes, undertaken with the sanction of the Indian government, have completed the line of information from Kabul to Bokhara, and connected it with that obtained by Fraser and Connolly in Khorasan.

Lieut. Burnes has also collected particulars of in terest beyond the immediate direction of his course, and has furnished us with some insight into the state of the regions between the Hindu Kosh and the Oxus to the frontier posts of Chinese Tur kistan. The most enterprising, and, in a great measure, the most successful efforts to penetrate into central Asia from Hindustan, have, however, been made by, or have originated with, Mr. William Moor croft ; and these were undertaken not only with out the encouragement of the government of India

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. XVII but without their expressed approbation. A cold permission was Mr. Mooreroft's only incitement beyond the stimulus of a speculative mind and an enterprising disposition. His first attempt, which was made by way of Chinese Tartary, has been long the property of geographers, having been published in the twelfth volume of the Asiatic Researches*. In this journey he was the first European to cross the Himalaya, and make his way to the great plain between that and the Kuen-lun chain, the situation ofthe sources of the Indus and the Setlej, and of the two remarkable lakes of Ravan and Manasa. Besides the natural difficulties of the way, he had to elude the vigilance of the Nepalese, then masters of the Himalaya, and who were on the eve of that war with the British which transferred the snowy mountains to the latter.

Mr. Moorcroft had also to conciliate the Chinese authorities beyond the Himalaya, and in spite of all obstacles, and of sickness, induced by exposure and fatigue, he accomplished his purpose, as certaining not only the valuable geographical facts alluded to (the situation of the sacred lakes ofthe Hindus, and the upper course of two important rivers), but the region, also, of the shawlwool goat, and opening a way for the importation of the wool into Hindustan, and finally into Britain. * A Journey to Lake Manasarovara in Undes. Asiatic Res, vol. xii. Calcutta, 1816. VOL. I. b

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. XVIII Mr. Mooreroft's ulterior object, however, was to penetrate to Turkistan, to the country of a breed of horses which it was his great ambition to do mesticate in India. Although obliged to relinquish his purpose on the occasion of his first attempt, he very judiciously paved the way for a future enter prise, by sending, at his own expense, an intel ligent native friend, Mir Izzet Ullah, to perform the journey. This gentleman left Delhi in 1812, and proceeded to Kashmir : from thence he went to Le, in Ladakh, and, crossing that country, tra velled to Yarkand, through which he was suffered by the Chinese to pass without question. From Yarkand he journeyed by way of Kashkar, Kokan, and Samarkand, to Bokhara, and returned to India from the last-named city by the route of Balkh, Khulm, Bamian, and Kabul.

Of this jour ney, the most complete detour through the countries specified that is on record, Izzet Ullah kept a Persian journal, a copy of which falling into the hands of the Editor of the present work some years afterwards, was translated by him for one of the periodical journals of Calcutta *, whence it has been re-translated into French and Germans. The observations of the Mir, though brief and unpre tending, are intelligent, and in the dearth of more * Calcutta Quarterly Mag. and Review, vols. iii. and iv. 1825. t Magasin Asiatique. Juillet, 1826. — Ritter's Geography cf Asia,

PREFACE.

. XIX ample and elaborate materials are of infinite value. The sketch which they afford it was the purpose of the travels now published to complete. That purpose, as will be seen, was but partially effected, and of what was accomplished the narration is imperfect. The unfortunate death of both the travellers, whilst it has delayed the publication of their labours, and thus defrauded them in some instances of that priority to which they have a rightful claim, has had the still more injurious effect of depriving their notes and journals of their own final revision, of that classification and arrangement which they were best qualified to devise, and of those additional developments and details which, like all travellers, they had been compelled to entrust to the tablets of their memory. The circumstances, however, under which the journey was undertaken, and under which an account of it is now offered to the public, will perhaps be best appreciated by connecting them with such imperfect notices as it has been found possible to collect of the travellers themselves.

Mr. William Moorcroft, who is to be regarded as the originator of the journey, and the principal of the enterprize, was a native of Lancashire, and was educated at Liverpool for the profession of a surgeon. Upon the completion of the usual course of study, however, his attention was diverted to a different pursuit, and he finally settled in London b2

PREFACE.

. XX as a practiser of veterinary surgery. His reasons for the change are thus detailed in a letter written from Kashmir to a friend in London. " Whilst a pupil of Dr. Lyon, the colleague of Dr. Currie, at the Liverpool Infirmary, the atten tion ofthe physicians and surgeons of that institu tion was suddenly and strongly called to a formidable epidemic disease amongst the horned cattle of a particular district, and was thought to be ex tending. It was agreed to depute a pupil to exa mine the disease upon the spot. The choice fell upon me, and in company with a Mr. Wilson, the ablest fanner of the day, I performed my commis sion. As arising out of this occurrence, it is only necessary to remark, that two gentlemen, of whose judgment and patriotism I had the highest respect, took the trouble of endeavouring to show that if I were to devote myself to the improvement of a de graded profession, closely connected with the in terests of agriculture, I might render myself much more useful to the country, than by continuing in one already cultivated by men of the most splendid talents.

Convinced by their arguments, but op posed by other friends, and especially by my mas ter, the matter was compromised by a reference to the celebrated John Hunter. After a long con versation with me, Mr. Hunter declared that if he were not advanced in years he himself would on the following day begin to study the profession in

PREFACE.

. XXI question. This declaration was decisive, and I followed the course of study which Mr. Hunter was pleased to indicate." As there was no veterinary school in London at the time, Mr. Moorcroft went over to the continent and resided for some period in France. On his re turn he settled in London, where, in conjunction with stir. Field, he carried on for some years a very prosperous and lucrative business. The nature of the profession, however, involved many occur rences unpleasant to a man of cultivated taste and warm temper, and amidst intercourse with persons of station and respectability, collision with individuals not always possessed of either. Mr. Moor croft, therefore, became disgusted with his occupation, although he speedily realised a handsome property by it. A great portion of this, however, he lost in some injudicious project for manufac turing cast-iron horse-shoes, and he readily, there fore, accepted an offer from the Court of Directors of the East India Company to go out to Bengal as superintendent of their military stud.

He left England in May, 1808, in the same fleet, though in a different ship, with the writer of this notice, who, when he occasionally saw Mr. Moorcroft, during the voyage, as the vessels spoke, or on their touching at Madeira, little anticipated that he should ever become his biographer. The Company's stud was instituted for the pur-

PREFACE.

. XXII pose of improving the indifferent breed of horses indigenous in Hindustan, for the special ser vice of their own cavalry. That the object had not been successfully prosecuted is to be inferred from the necessity of obtaining scientific superin tendence from England. That it was attained in a very eminent degree within a reasonable period after Mr. Mooreroft's appointment, the observation of persons in India, however little conversant with the subject, could not fail to remark. In the letter above cited, Mr. Moorcroft observes, that at the time he left the stud on his present travels, there was not above one horse diseased for ten that he had found when he took charge of it. This amend ment he attributes, amongst other things, to the use of oats as food, the cultivation of which grain he introduced into Hindustan.

In order, however, to improve essentially and permanently the cavalry horse of India, and especially in size and strength, Mr. Moorcroft strenuously urged the introduction of the Turkman, or English, in preference to the Arab horse. His representations were at one time so favourably considered by the authorities in India, that he was on the eve of being permitted to return to England to select a batch of suitable stallions ; but the purpose was abandoned, and his thoughts were thenceforward fixed exclusively upon the neighbourhood of Balkh and Bokhara. This was the leading motive of his journey across

PREFACE.

. XXIII the Himalaya, and this purpose prompted the second journey, which terminated fatally for his project and himself. Coupled with the conviction that the native cavalry horse of India could be ameliorated only by an infusion of the bone and blood of the Turk man steed, was an equally strong belief in Mr. Mooreroft's mind of the possibility of establishing a commercial intercourse with the Trans-Hima layan districts, which should be highly advantage ous to Great Britain. In some respects the belief was founded on sufficient premises. To the anti cipation of an extensive demand for British fabrics, both of hardware and of woollen cloth, from the known absence of all manufacturing skill in the countries of Central Asia, and the necessity of warm clothing imposed by the climate, was added acquaintance with the fact that these very articles, some of continental, and some of British manufacture found their way from Russia across the whole of the intervening regions, even to Afghanistan and the Panjab.

To secure a part, if not the whole of this commerce, was an object which Mr. Moor croft entertained with the ardour and tenacity of his character, for, as he observes of himself, "his obstinacy was almost equal to his enthusiasm," in which, however, for obstinacy his friends would substitute perseverance. Accordingly, having Avrung from the government of India a reluctant

PREFACE.

. acquiescence in his journey to Bokhara, for the purpose of procuring horses, he also obtained its permission to carry with him such articles of merchandise as he thought likely to be most in demand, and, provided with this concession, he induced two of the mercantile firms of Calcutta (Messrs. Palmer and Co., and Messrs. Cruttenden and Co.) to entrust to his care a supply of goods to the value of about three thousand pounds. Some of these he sold or exchanged in Kashmir for shawls, and he subsequently added to his stock also about two thousand pounds' worth of coral and pearls. The ultimate proceeds of these articles were to be expended in the purchase of horses, which were, in the first instance, to be offered to the government for sale : such as they disapproved of were to be disposed of through other channels.

The principle of the experiment was, no doubt, creditable to Mr. Mooreroft's patriotism, but many disasters, and much delay, eventually the cause, perhaps, of his death, may be ascribed to his incumbering himself with heavy packages, amidst impracticable routes, and amongst people who are little better than organised robbers, and who welcome the stranger merchant to their haunts merely that they may revel on his plunder. Thus provided, Mr. Moorcroft set off on his journey some time at the end of 1819, accompanied as is described in the following account.

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. XXV Of his only European companion, Mr. George Trebeck, I have not been able to learn many par ticulars, nor is it likely that much is to be told, as he was a young man, only on the threshold of the world. His father (Mr. Trebeck), who had been a solicitor in London, settled in the same capacity in Calcutta. He had some difficulties to contend with in his outset, but was gradually overcoming them, and acquiring a respectable business, when he died. One of his sons is still in Calcutta, following the profession of his father. The other, who had a turn for adventure, accompanied Mr. Moorcroft, and was a most invaluable companion. To him the geographical details were intrusted, and, as long as he was able to keep a regular field book, which he did until the party quitted the Panjab, the information he records is minute and accurate, and has been found of the greatest service in the preparation of the map which accompanies the present publication.

In addition to his geographical notes he recorded various particulars, which show him to have been an intelligent and lively observer; and that he possessed talent for delineating the objects of art or nature which he encountered, the specimens which illustrate the following pages, and which are but a few out of many similar drawings, sufficiently evince. His share in the literary part of the following account, especially when he was on FREF.VCE. detached duty, is specified in its proper place. Amongst his many merits, however, there were some, not the least, for which other testimony may be found. Moorcroft always speaks of his young friend as alert, active, cheerful, sanguine, happy under every privation, enduring hardships with fortitude, and meeting peril with resolution ; and Lieutenant Burnes remarks, when describing his burial-place at Mazar, " this young man has left a most favourable impression of his good qualities throughout the country which we passed."