The Heart of a Continent: A Narrative of Travels in Manchuria, Across the ...

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Preface

SINCE my appointment to the leadership of the Tibet Mission I have heard of so many who were anxious to read the account of my former travels that I consulted Mr. Murray as to the possibility of publishing a cheap edition of this book. He replied by sending me the proof copies to correct, which fortunately arrived just before the Tibetan attack on my camp, and the tedium of our investment here has been charmingly beguiled by travelling my travels over again, and meeting once more my loyal and devoted companions; Wali, the Balti guide who so pluckily carried me over the Mustagh Pass ; Shukar Ali, the cheery pony-man who, afterwards promoted to the kitchen, cooked so atrociously for me ; Rahmat-ula^Khan, the Afghan who got me out of a nasty scrape with the Kirghiz; Iny faithful little Gurkhas; and the serious, ambitious Pathan, Shahzad Mir, who has since distinguished himself in many other explorations in Tib^t, China, and Abyssinia.

The alterations I have made are merely verbal ; and with the exception of the omission, for the sake of brevity, of two chapters on Chitral and Hunza, which did not deal with travel pure and simple, I venture to send out my book yet again in its original form, hoping that th^e may still be some who may find in reading it the same enjoyment which the writing and revising of it has a£Forded me.

Gtantsb, Tibet, May 30, 1904 A3 irii

Preface To The First Edition

THE first thing a man who travels from London to Scotland wants to do at the end of his journey is to describe to his friends his experiences on the way — whether the train was crowded or not, what the weather was like, and how perfect or imperfect the arrangements of the railway company were. It is the same general instinct of wishing to tell out to others the experiences one has had that is now acting in me. To do this in conversation is, in my case, a hopeless task — because, for one thing, my experiences of travel have now accumulated so heavily; and, for another, I find insuperable difiSculties in giving by word of mouth accounts of travels in strange lands unfamiliar to the hearer. At the same time I am always experiencing the wish that my friends should be able to share with me, as much as it is possible to do so, the enjoyment I have felt in looking upon Nature in its aspects wild, in distant unfrequented parts of the earth, and in mixing with strange and little-known peoples, who, semi-barbarians though they may be, have often more interesting traits of character than others in a higher scale of civilisation.

I have, therefore, been year by year impelled to write out my experiences in a collected form, and in such a way as may be accessible, not only to those with whom I am personally acquainted, but also, I hope, to many another kindred spirit, who shares with me that love for adventure and seeking out the unknown which has grown

viii

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION ix

up within me« The great pleasure in writing is to feel that it is possible, by this means, to reach such men ; to feel that I can speak to them just as they, by their books and by their works, have spoken to me, and that I may, in some slight degree, be passing on to others about to start on careers of adventure, the same keen love of travel and of Nature which I have received from those who have gone before.

There are others, too, whom I hope my book may reach — among those thousands and thousands who stay at home in England. Amongst these there are numbers who have that longing to go out and see the world, which is the characteristic of Englishmen. It is not natural to an Englishman to sit at an office desk, or spend his whole existence amid such tame excitement as life in London, and shooting partridges and pheasants afford. Many consider themselves tied down to home ; but they often tie themselves down. And if a man has indeed the spirit of travel in him, nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of his doing as he wishes. And one of the hopes I have as I write this book is, that it may tempt some of the stay-at-homes to go out and breathe a little of the pure fresh air of Nature, and inhale into their beings some of the revivifying force and heightened power of enjoyment of all that is on this earth which it can give.

My book cannot claim to be scientific, nor to be written in any correct literary style, but I have endeavoured to speak out, as clearly and impressively as I can, what I saw, what I did, and what I felt in the little-known, and sometimes unknown, regions which I have visited, and to give the impressions which formed themselves in my mind of the various peoples whom I met. Some portion of this will, I hope, prove of value to others besides the general reader ; but it has been a ceaseless cause of regret to me

X PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

that I had never undergone a scientific training before undertaking my journeys. During the last year or two I have done what I can by myself to supply this deficiency ; but amongst the Himalaya mountains, in the desert of Gobi, and amid the forests of Manchuria, how much would I not have given to be able to exchange that smattering of Greek and Latin which I had drilled into me at school for a little knowledge of the great forces of Nature which I saw at work around me I

With these few remarks of introduction, and with the hope that there may be some among my readers to whom the spirit in which it has been written may appeal ; that there may be among the busy crowds in England some to whom it may give an hour's change of scene, and a momentary glimpse into the great world of Nature beyond our little isle; and that there may be some among my countrymen scattered over the world to whom this description of still other lands than those they have so far seen may give pleasure, I send out this story of a wanderer's doings, of the scenes which he has witnessed, and of the feelings which have moved him.

Chapter I Thb Bvbr-whitb Mountain

My first journey to Dharmsaia — Robert Shaw — Preparations for an extended journey — Mr. H. £. M. James-^Dectsion to go to Manchuria --Arrival at Newchwang — « The Ever- White Mountain "-- To Mukden— Chinese inquisttiveness — Tomb of Nurhachu — To the Yalu River — Want of milk and butter — Industry of Chinese colonists — We enter the great forest — Mosquitoes — Sable-hunters — ^The Sungari River — Its sources — I reach the summit of the " Ever- White Mountain " — IGrin^-Chinese cfinners— Chinese manners page i

Chapter II Manchuria To Peking

Start for Tsi-tsi-har— The Sungari again — Luxury of milk and cream — The Mongolian and Chinese frontier— Return to cultivation — Hulan ^Torturing of Pire Conraux — Pei-lin-tzu — A pattern mission station — Sansing — ^A Chinese fort and guns — Ninguta — Chinese carts and carters — ^The Russian frontier— Hunchun — Transport of Krupp guns — General I — A Russian frontier post — Cossacks — ^Colonel Sokolowski — Russian hospitality — Novo-kievsk — The Corean frontier — England and Russia . . 21

Chapter III Back To Peking

We turn our &ces homewards — Kirin — Hsiao Pa-chia-tzu — The Roman Catholic mission— To Mukden — 14'' below sero — ^Winter traffic — Mongolian ponies— A fkoxen mist — ^The Scottish mission at Mukden ^•Its medical work — Return to Newchwang — My indebtedness to Mr. James — Remarks on Manchuria — Its products and people — Christmas Day in a Chinese inn — Shan-hai-kuan — The Great Wall of China— Compared with the Pyramids— Kaiping— A procession of cofpsea — British navvies — ^The Kaiping coal-mine — Mr. Kinder — How he constructed his locomotives — ^The first Chinese railway — Native superstitions and prejudices— Peng-shui — ^Tientsin — Ice-boat sailing — New Year's visits — Peking . • . . 40 xii CONTENTS

Chapter IV Pbking To Kwei-hwa-cheng

Arrival of Colood Bell — Preparations for an overland journey to India — Our different routes — Fascination of planning a journey — Start from Peking — My servant — Liu-san — The Great Wall at Kalgan — American medical mission — Views on opium-smoking — M. Ivanoff^ A Chinese ex-naval officer — Chinese ignorance Of geog^phy — Agreements with carters — In the valley of the Yang-ho — The winds from the Mongolian plateau — Formation of cart-roads in the loess — Mules — We enter the ' ' Land of Gog and Magog " — On the Mongolian plain— Yurts — Kindliness of the Mongols — Partridges— Chinese supplanting Mongols— Rapid changes of temperature — Arrival at Kwei hwa-cheng — The China Inland Mission — Their system and hardships — How Chinese troops are levied — Mr. Clarke — Kwd-hwa-cheng — Its diminishing trade — Its temples — Mongol bazaar — Caravan-men — Preparations for crossing the Gobi Desert — Finding an auspicious date — My equipment .... pag€ 55

Chapter V Across The Gobi Desert

My company — The guide — His extraordinary memory for wells — Ma-te-la — We start — The In-shan Mountains ~ Mongolian pastures — Encroachments of Chinese and Russians — Messrs. Collins and Co. of Tientsin — The Mongolian camel — Warnings of robbers — Liu-san and his revolver — Deer and the mode of killing them — Mongol temples — Aggressive ravens — Approaching the Sheitung-ula Mountains — A local tradition — The Ho-lsu-liu streams-Deceptive distances — The heart of the Gobi Desert — Monotonous marches-^Characteristics of the desert — Temperature and winds — Extracts from diary — ^Wild ponies — Elm trees — The Galpin Gobi — Hurricane and darkness — Partridges — The Hurku Hills — Bortson well — On Pijevalsky's track — A trading caravan — Uses of a Mongol boot — ^Valuable gifts — Mongol customs — ^A dust-storm — Curious sandhills — ^Their origin — Wind-formed sand — Mt Barosakhai — The mountain system — Preparing for attack — A glass of sherry — Man-chin-tol — Slow progress — Glimpses of snow — Wild camels — Wild mules — The Altai Mountains — Refractory camels — Ma-te-la bolts home — ^A strange sunset — Mongol agriculture — Ula-Khutun — Origin of sloping g^vel plains — Ovis atgrali-^A glimpse of the Tian-shan — Desert of Zungaria — Ovis poli horns — Difficulties of Chinese language— A period of depression — A scorching wind — We enter Turkestan— Its inhabitants — Turid women — We cross the Tian-^ban Mountains-^An oasis— Last stage of desert journey—Arrival at Hami . . . • • 73

CONTENTS xiii

Chapter VI Through Turkbstan To Yarkand

Inquiries for Colonel Bell — Bazaar at Hami — A Russian merchant — I hire carts — A satisfactory arrat^ement — Start from Hami — ^A poor inn — The desert ag^ain — Tombs of mandarins — A dreary land — A cart as a bedroom — Chinese soldiers and their ways — " The great English nation '* — We lose our way — Shi-gap-tai^-Bsid inns of Kashgaria — Pi-chan — A pleasant oasts — Curious holes — A Turki inn — Wells of Chinese soldiers — Arrival at Turfan — An Afghan merchant — ^A cross-examination — The Andijanis — The shops and wares — ^A Hajji — His experiences and his influence — Kokhandees — Living in boles — Description of Turfan — Toksun — A hard day's work — Kara* shar— Tunganis — Kalmak encampments — The Turks — Purchasing a pony — A rescued Mongol lady — Fords, ferries, and swamps — Hospitable Turks— Mosquitoes again — The art of cart-driving — Korlia — A reorganisation — Doolans — KuchS — Soldier thieves — A regular horse-dealer — Traces of Yakoob Beg — Kizil — Cultivated land — Aksu — Travelling merchants — Rahmat-ula-Khan — Ush Turfan — Memories of Robert Shaw — A Kirghiz encampment — Curious companions — Darning my stockings — Balls of curds — The Kara-kara Pass — The Syrt country — A captive eagle — Riding down eagles — Hostile Kirghiz — Rahmat-ula-Khan*s diplomacy — His opinions on Russians and English — First sight of the Pamir Mountains — Artysh --Arrival at Kashgar— The Afghan Aksakal— << Ropert "—MM. Petrovsky and Hendriks — Arrival and welcome at Yarkand page 199

Chapter VII Into The Hbart Of The Himalayas

Chinese Turkestan-~Chiefly desert — Oases — A land of extremes— A people of tmperturi>able mediocrity — A suggestion from Colonel Bell — Preparations for the Mustag^h Pass — Dalgleish's house — His characteristics — Robert Shaw — His career and fate — Chinese officials — Courtesy of the Amban — A sumptuous feast — My guide Wall — Start from Yarkand — Market-days — Kugiai^— Tupa Dawan Pass^ The Pakbpa— Chiraghsaldi Pass — Danger of Kanjuti robbers — The Yarkand Rivet^-Karash-tarim — Raskam district — Disused smelting furnaces — Khoja Mohammed gorge — Surakwat stream — A bad day's march — Foretaste of severe cold — Elation of difficulty — ^The i^hil Pass — ''The other side of the hill"— A stupendous scene— A precarioua descent— The Oprang River->The Karakoram — Suget Jangai — K>2 • • •• • ■• « • 143

3dv CONTENTS

Chapter VIII The Mustaqh Pass

A discourag^in^ start^A precipice blocks the way — My Ladaki servant refuses descent of the precipice — Myfirst g-lacier — Ice-caves — Scarcity of supplies — Difficulties of the ponies-*A possible way out — My last pair of boots — In a sea of ice — The two Mustagh Passes — A choice of eiols — A critical stage — Intense cold at night — On the summit of the pass — Advantages of silence — A perilous toe-slope ^^Drogpa gives in — A sheer precipice to pass — Courage of my men — ^The last to descend — In safety once more — A glorious night scene — Crevasses — My last bottle of brandy broken — Baltoro Glacier — Suffering from want of boots — ^A ducking — We reach Askoli — Inhospitable reception — Start for the New Mustagfa Pass — Superstitious dread of the mountains — ^Comered between two glaciers— The Punmah Glacier — A rope bridge— Wall's fear— The Bnildo River— The Shigar valley — Baltistan— The Baltis— A subject race— I take leave of Wali— M. Dauvergne — M. Notovitch — The Zoji-la Pass — The Sind and Kashmir valleys — Arrival at Srinagar— I try to civilise myself— Meeting with Captain Ramsay — Congratulations of Sir F. Roberts — To Murree and Rawal Pindi — Arrival of Liu*san and the ponies pag9 i6o

Chapter IX The Raids From Hunza

Return of the exploring fever — Disappointment — Sudden order to go to Hunza — Hunza or Kanjut — A race of raiders — Sir Mortimer Durand — Abbottabad-^I inspect my Gurkhas — Murree — Gurkhas are not horsemen— The Sind valley — Cheeriness of the Gurkhas — ^Zoji-la — We enter Ladak — Buddhist monasteries — Arrival at Leh — An old friend — Shukar Ali — Captain Ramsay — Kashmir sepoys — Baltis — A goatskin raft— Difficulties of transport — Coolies — Ponies— Donkeys — Camels decided on — Supplies— iStart again — Khardung Pass — Mountain sickness — Nubra valley — Saser Pass — Depsang Plains — Karakoram Pass — ^Absence of snow — Dalgleish's murder — Suget Pass— Shahidula — A deputation of Kii*ghiz— Account of a Kanjuti raid— Characteristics of the Kirghiz . . . 185

Chapter X Among Thb Glaciers

Waiting for the subsidence of the river — Bound for an unknown r^on — The Shimshal and Saltoro Passes— Supplies arrive— P r epa r ations for exploration — Start from Shahidula — Khal Chuskun — Sokh-bolak

CONTENTS XV

PasS'Kii^hiz Jangal — Kulanuldi — In the valley of the Yarkand River — A swollen ford — Ruins at Karash-tarim — Minerals — Bazar Darra stream — Information about the Kuen-lun Mountains and their drainage — ^A climb to reconnoitre — Kami on the Surakwat — Tradition of Khoja Mohammed — The Aghil Pass—On new ground— In search of the Saltoro Pass — The Oprang valley — A wall of ice — ^View of Gusherbnim — ^Among the glaciers — Peculiar snow-clouds — BaiBed — We reach the Saltoro Pass — A heavy snowstorm — ^An avalanche — A narrow escape — Forced to return to camp— The Sarpo Laggo valley — Hose the caravan — Magnesium- wire signals — Suget Jangal — In search of the Shimshal Pass — Mode of ascending glaciers — Very bad crevasses — A cul de jar--Comfortless quarters — Return to camp. — Beautiful ice-forms — Glacier scenery — Crevasse Glacier — Return to Suget Jangal .... pitge aoo

CHAPTER XI A KANjUTI STRONGHOLD

Death of my pony — ^The Oprang River — Want of maps — We lose our bearings-— Constant fordings — The pluck of the Gurkhas — Chong Jangal — A post at last — News from Hunza— Arrival of Turdi Kol at last — ^To Darwaza — A robbers' stronghold — The Gurkha nsuk claims his privilege — Plan of approach — ^A precarious position — ^A curious group— A peaceful ending — We advance — Hardships of the Hunza men — ^We cross the Shimshal Pass — A "pamir"— A letter from Safder Ali — We return to the Yarkand River . . . . 222

CHAPTER XH

BY THE SKIRTS OF THE PAMIRS TO HUNZA

The Raskam River— Letters from Lieutenant Bower and Major Cumberland — I dispose of my ponies — Captain Grombtchevsky — His equipment — ^The Cossacks— Russian soldiers and th«r work-*Inspection of tetf Gurkhas — Gurichas and Cossacks — A pleasant incident — Knriia Pass — ^Tagh-dum-bash Pamir — Ilisu — Kuch Mohammed Beg — I go to Tashkurgan — Major Cumberland and Lieutenant Bower — The Sarikolis — Fugitives from Shignan — The Tagh-dum-bash Pamir — To the Khunjerab Pass — Ovis j^/»— Curious shining particles — A stalk~To the Mintaka Pass— Chinese official— OITended dignity- Dismissing my IGrghiz — Their greediness — We cross the Mintaka — Across the Indus watershed — An interesting valley — Misgah — A Hunza Arbap — His greed— Gircha^- Visit from the Prime Minister^ Wazir Dadu — Gulmit— A state reception — Safder Ali— I take a seat — ^A business interview-*Safder Ali and Alexander the Great— The right to raid—A heated discussion — Firing exercises— An undignified mier— I leave Gulmit— The fate of Safder Ali— Oilgit— Return to Kaalw^-^ take leave of my Gurkhas ••^33 xvi CONTENTS

Chapter XIII To The Pamirs — 189o

Previous travellers in the Pamirs — My companion, Mr. Georgfe Macartney— Leh — Messrs. Beech and Lennard — ^We reach Yarkand — Unchanging character of Central Asian cities — Arrival of Captain Grombtchevsky — A curious dinner-party — We start for the Roof of the World— Tashkufgan— The Neza-tash Pass— The Little Pamir- Characteristics of a Pamir — Vegetation — Severity of the cpld — ^The IGrghiz—Aktash— Across the Little Pamir— The Istigh River— Alichur Pamir — Ak-chak-tash— Hot springs— Ovts ^»— Somatash — The inscribed stone at Bash Gumbaz — Scene of the conflict between the Russians and Afghans in 1892 — Routes to the Alichur Pamir — The valley of the Aksu— Sarez — Murghabi- Russian outposts — The Akbaital — Rang-kul— The mysterious Lamp Rock — ^The mysteiy explained — To the Kara-kul Lake — Kizil Jek Pass— Kara-art Pass — Down the Markan-su to Opal— Arrival in Kashgar— Winter quarters — Chinese gongs— M. Petrovsky page 256

Chapter XIV A Winter In Kashgar

Official visits — The Chinese Taotai and general — A Chinese opinion of European civilisation— General Wang— The barracks— Discipline and occupations of the soldiera — Rifle practice — Cosmopotitan Kashgar — ^Central Asian traders — Opinions of the Afghan Amir of British and Russian rule — Impressions of Russian power — Effects of our retirement from Afghanistan in 1881 — M. Petrovsky — His views about England — About treatment of natives in India — About the Crimea — Russian carelessness about learning languages — M. Blanc — Dr. Sven Hedin — M. Dutreuil de Rhins — Subsequently murdered in Tibet — P^re Hendriks — His accomplishments and privations — Arrival of Messrs. Beech and Lennard — A Christmas dinner — Monotony of life — Arrival of a post — Bad news and good — I am made a CLE. — Permission to return to India — Arrival of Lieutenant Davison — His adventures— We start together — A nusunderstanding 270

Chapter XV Rashgar To India

I take leave of Macartney — Departure from Chinese Turkestan — Its murky atmosphere-* Pilgrimages to Mecca — The Gez defile — ^A temporary lake — Bulun-kul — I part from Lieutenant Davison — Little Kara-kul — ^A remarkable lake — A grand vvtyt — Tagarma plain — Tashkurgan again — Reports of Russian force on the Pamirs — Wakhijrui Pass— Bozai-Gumbaz— A party of Cossacks— Colonel Yonoff

CONTENTS xvii

airives^His mission — ^Tent of Russian officers — Compared with my own — ^A dinner-party — Surveying work done by the Russians — The Khora Bhort Pass — Excliange of information — Departure of the Russians — Colonel YonofF returns to order me away — I consent under protest — Subsequent apology of Russian Government — I go to the Kukturuk valley — Lieutenant Stewart arrives with escort — Return of Lieutenant Davison — His treatment by the Russians — Among the mountains again — The watershed of the Indus and Oxus — The heart of Central Asia — The Panja River — Back to Bozai- Gumbaz — How to return to India ? — ^We find a pass — A snowstorm — ^A glaciers-Instinct of the yak — An icy blast — Rough descent — The Karumbar River — Gilgit — Heavy snow on the Burzil Pass — A detachment of Gurkhas snowed up— Frostbite — The Tragbal Pass — The valley of Kashmir — End of another journey — Death of Davison ...... pc^ 285

Chapter XVI Thb Missionary Question In China

Interest in the question of missions in China-^Admirable work done by missionaries— Not all of equal merit — True and false missionaries-— Statistics of converts no true test — Conversion — Growing and expanding work of Christianity — The Armenian atrocities and Asiatics -—Spirit of Christianity and Asiatics — Fanatic missionaries — Elements of good in heathen religions — Universality of religion— Belief in a Great Spirit — ^Influence of personal character — Progress must be slow 303

Chapter XVII Impressions Op Travel

Impressions and reflections produced by travel — Nature's most important messages — Life in the Gobi Desert — Manifestations of Nature — Men's ideas influenced by their surroundings — Hunza^^Conjectures of other worids — The stored knowledge of civilisation — Impressions produced by mountains — Their comparative sizes — The forests of Manchuria — The crowded haunts of men — ^Asiatic races — The goal of man's progress — Intellectual power of different races — Moral superiority — Dealings of Englishmen with natives— The power of S3rmpathy — Tenacity of purpose— Lieutenant Fowler at Reshun — Development of man as a social being — Conclusion . . 312

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Our Party in Manchuria .

Night Scene in the Gobi Desert .

In the Himalayas

Camp on tub Glacier, Mustaoh Pass

Crossing an Ice-slope on the Mustagh Pass

A Rope Bridge ....

The Sind Valley, Kashmir

Valley in the Hindu Kush

TO PACB PACK . l6

«54 166 170 178 190

Map to Illustrate Journey prom Peking to Varkand At the End

THE

HEART OF A CONTINENT

Chapter I The Ever.white Mountain

WHAT it was that first started me off on wanderings, which during the last ten years have led me over so large a portion of Asia, it is difficult to say exactly. But I think the first seeds of the divine discontent at staying still were sown in the summer of 1884, when I had obtained a few months' leave from my regiment, the King's Dragoon Guards, then stationed at Rawal Pindi, in the Punjab, and made use of them to tour through some of the lower ranges of the Himalayas.

My instinct first led me to Dharmsala, for many years the home of my uncle Robert Shaw, who with Hayward was the first Englishman to push his way right through the Himalayas to the plains of Turkestan beyond. Here I found many of his old pensioners — men who had accompanied him on his several journeys to Yarkand and Kashgar — and books too, and maps, and old manuscripts. I was among the relics of an explorer, at the very house in which he had planned his explorations, and from which he had started to accomplish them. I pored over the books and maps, and talked for hours with the old servants, till the spirit of exploration gradually entered my soul, and I rushed off on a preliminary tour on foot in the direction of Tibet^ and planned a great journey into that country for the following year.

That first wild wandering through the Himalayas is one on which I look back with almost keener enjoyment than on any other journey I have subsequently made. I had been in Switzerland and seen snow-mountains before, but only as a boy, when I was not able to wander as I would. Now I was free, and in all the pride and keenness of twenty-one. One march a day was not enough for me; I made two regularly, and sometimes three, and I wanted to go everywhere in the two months which was all I then had available. The scenery of such valleys as those of Kangra and Kulu was enchanting. And then came the excitement of preparing to cross my first snow-pass. I had pictured to myself every imaginable horror from descriptions in books (written, of course, as I afterwards understood, from experiences at exceptional seasons), and I can still recall tny disappointment at finding that all these horrors had degenerated into simple heart-breaking plodding through soft deep snow hour after hour, with an icy wind blowing, and the sun striking down on the top of my head and combining with the rarefaction of the air to give me as bad a headache as I ever had. Then, too, the feeling of disgust and despair at the sight of those utterly bare, brown mountains which lie beyond the first forest-clad zone of the Himalayas, their cold and almost repellent appearance — all this I remember well, and the rawness and inexperience of the whole of my arrangements, and the discovery that I could not march for twenty or thirty miles a day, as I had imagined I should be able to do, with just about enough food for the whole day as would form a decent breakfast for a man in hard work. And yet there was a delicious sense of satisfaction as each long day's march was over, as each pass was crossed, each new valley entered, and the magnificent health and strength which came therewith inspired the feeling of being able to go an3rwhere and do anything that it was within the powers of man to do.

From this first tour through the Himalayas I came back

1885] EARLY PLANS AND PREPARATIONS 3

with the exploring fever thoroughly on me, and I plunged incessantly into books of travel. Very fortunately, too, just a few months later on, in the cold weather of the same year, I found some small scope for my superabundant energies in a three months' reconnaissance which I was sent to make upon the Indus and towards the Afghan frontier; and then, after being attached for some weeks to the Quartermaster-General's department under the late Sir William Lockhart, for the durbar in honour of the Amir of Afghanistan, I was sent to Simla as an attachi in the Intelligence Department, and ordered to revise the Gazetteer of the Kashmir frontier. Here was most congenial work, for it dealt with all the approaches to that mysterious land of Yarkand and Kashgar which had so fascinated me at Dharmsala, and of which I had so often heard in connection with my uncle, the explorer. The fine library of books of travel in every part of Asia which was now at my disposal was yet another incentive to exploration, and many were the schemes which I revolved in my mind that summer of 1885 at Simla.

But the immediate cause of my first big journey was Mr. James.* It was by the greatest piece of good fortune that we came together. We met first at a dinner-party, and the conversation between us turned on Yarkand and Kashgar. (I would beg my readers thoroughly to impress upon their minds the position of these places, for their names will frequently be mentioned throughout this book.) I naturally waxed eloquent on the subject, and a week or two afterwards we again met at dinner, and again talked about the same places. And then, after a few days, on one Sunday afternoon Mr. James walked into my house and asked me if I would go a journey with him. Nothing was said as to where we should go ; but to go a journey anjrwhere was enough for me, and of course I said '^Yes." I remember sitting that afternoon in church at Simla and looking up the rows of people, thinking how every man amongst them would