The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-04

ADN'NcS
 stretch of the Yarkand River, but ow-
 ing to heavy fall of snow, he was un-
 able to cross the Khandar Pass, and i was obliged to make retrograde move
 ment to Kosarab. On reaching this
 place he found that all the ice had dis
 appeared from the river, and that the
 banks were so precipitious that even
 experienced hill climbers could only as-
 cend them in one or two places. It IS | only In mid-winter when the river Is | frozen over, that it is possible to travel | through that part of the valley Of the Yarkand River lying between the west end of Raskam and Kosarab, Captaln Deasy again returned to Yarkand where it was found necessary to give the baggage animals a rest of some weeks When they had sufficiently re- covered he set out along the line or oases to Khotan, and thence to Polu,
 with the intention of thoroughly explor- ing the country south of the Kuen Lun range, to the westward of the line fol- lowed by Roborovsky, and of ascertain ing if there were any direct practicable route from Polu other than that leading
 towards Ladakh, in the direction or
  establish a trigonometrical value for the longitudes of the principal places visited, either direct from points fixed by the great trigcnomntrlcal survey or India, or from peaks whose coordinatee he had himself determined by trian&ula- ton during his previous journey in lSsS'
 He was also desiroua of connecting the
 typographical wurlS of his present jour
 ney with that which had hcen carried
 out under his supervision two years
 before, and of accurately determining
 the heights of as many as possible of the magnificent snow-clad mountains which abound in northwestern Tibet and Aksai Chin.
 Pou Is situated within the jurlsdic- ton of the Amban of Keria, who proved to be an obstructonist of the first wat CT. He insisted, both verbally and in writing, that Aksai Chin Nus Chinese
 territory and did not belong to Tibet. He declined to allow Captain Deasy to travel by the direct route through the Polu Gorge, assigning as his reason that the French traveller, M. Dutreuil de Rhins, who had been murdered hund- reds of miles away, had used this route, anu lldl SlIlC6 lllSH lL Ildu bGNH GiCSoGu to every one. But in spite of the oh- structive tactics of the local officials, Captain Deasy succeeded in carrying out his programme and brought the triangulation across the high Kuen Lun range to within a few miles of Polu. The area of country surveyed was not very large, but the coordinates of about ninety peaks were determined, and of the source of the Khotan River dis covered. The return journey to Polu from Aksai Chin was made by the di- rect route, and the caravan then return ed to Yarkand in order to rest the men and animals before making another at tempt to reach the unknown part of the Yarkand River.
 This last attempt was successful, not withstanding q repetition of the usual tactics on the part of the Chinese au- thoritiee. The Amban of Yarkand, after inspecting the passport given to Cap tain Deasy by the Tsung- -li- Yamen, de- tailed petty official to accompany the expedition; but no sooner had it left Yarkand than he despatched letter 70 the Beg of Sariko informing him that a British traveller was supposed to te wandering about in the mountains with, out any passport, and warning the Eek to keep sharp lookout and to report on the mysterious travellers move ments, The fact appears to be that the Chinese were utterly unable to under stand why any one should travel about, at great personal inconvenience. in a most difficult country, among high and precipitous mountains and through the exceedingly narrow and deep interven- ing valleys The Talks, who inhabit the country commonly, but erroneously, called Marion Pamir, and their kins- men in the neighborlng valleys, acting, no doubt, under instructions declined to give any information about the direct route leading towards the west end of Raskam, They also declined to furnish guides and hoped, no doubt. that Cap tain Deasy would return toYarkand. In this, however they were mistaken The country consisted of high and pre- cipitous mountains, separating extreme ly narrow valleys. Some of these val leys are cultivated, but in others the dense jungle makes it almost impos- sible for the baggage animals to force a passage.
 Frozen streams added to the difficult ties of the journey, and one valley nu- merous ice steps had to be cut before the animals could pass As matter of fact, the refusal of the Tajiks to ren- der any assistance while adding to the | difficulties of Captain Deasy's journey l increased the value of the work done He was compelled to cover a larger area of country, and in the end succeeded In accurately surveying | all but few miles of the unknown | parts of the Yarkand River The con- ditions under which the work was car | red out were extremely trying. During the day intensely cold winds blew, the | often 10 degrees below zero at noon, in bright sunshine, and it | was only by breaking the force of the | wind by rugs. held in position by the porters, that observations could be talk an For nearly a fortnight tents could not be used, the narrow valleys being too rocky but fortunately sufficient | 1rewood was generally obtainable, and he absence of wind at night somewhat | llleviated the situation. In IA consecu- tive marches during this journey Il passes were crossed, averaging about A 700 feet, while two of them were close )n 17,o00 feet. The so-called roads scarcely deserved to be described as