clearly the various mountain-ranges to the north of India; and I found, after examining many maps, that no other which I could avail myself of would serve so well as the basis of a small map which would present at a glance the relative positions of the Panjáb plain, the Western Himalaya, the Hindú Kúsh, and the Karakorum Mountains. It seemed to me of much more importance to convey a general idea of that vast and little-known district of mountainous country than to present a detailed plan of my own route; for only those who are in, or are about to enter, the districts I traversed, will have any object in following me from stage to stage; and they can do so much better in Major Montgomerie's route-map and the five mile to the inch sheets of the Trigonometrical Survey, than in any map which it would be advisable for me to prepare. At the same time, I have marked my route carefully in the map which I present; I have added to it a large number of places which I visited, and have altered the spelling in accordance with that of my book.

That matter of spelling has caused no little trouble. It may not be generally known in this country that some years ago the Indian Government determined that Indian names should be spelt, at least in all official documents and publications, on one system. The system is based on the Jonesian-Wilsonian system of transliteration, as modified by the oriental societies, and has further been modified for practical purposes

by Dr W. W. Hunter, the head of the Indian Statistical Department. It partakes of the nature of a compromise, for accents are only used when specially necessary, and not as marking intonation, but only as indicating different vowel-sounds; and in the lists drawn up by Dr Hunter they are used very sparingly, and are omitted in some cases where they might have been added with advantage. I have followed these official lists in most instances, and the simple rules to be borne in mind in order to render their system of spelling intelligible are that,—

1. The long á sounds broadly, as in almond.

2. The short a without an accent, has usually somewhat of a u sound, as the a in rural.

3. The í with an accent, is like ee, or the i in ravine. 4. The ú with an accent is like oo, or the u in bull.

5. The e has a broad sound, as the a in dare.

6. The o sounds openly, as in note.

7. The ai sounds as in aisle, or the i in high.

8. The au sounds like ou in cloud.

The most striking peculiarities of this system are the substitution of ú for oo, of i for ee, and the expresí sion of broad a by á. It totally ignores the genius of the English language, and may be considered as another instance of that subjection of England to India which has been going on of late years. Another objection to it is, that it is not thoroughgoing, and is apt to land the a and the u sounds in hopeless confusion; while a third is, that it is liable to mislead from

its employment of accents in a different sense from that which they have, except incidentally, in European

languages. But I doubt not these objections have been duly considered by the promoters of the system, and that they have followed the plan which seemed to them best fitted to procure uniformity in the spelling of Indian names, which is an end of so great importance that I have deemed it right to follow the Government system of spelling, but not as a very advanced or always strictly accurate disciple. I am afraid an accent here and there has got on the wrong letter,

and I have sometimes continued the use of double letters; but, in truth, to carry out this system with perfect accuracy one would require not only to have the names before one written in an Indo-Aryan language, but also to be in the habit of dealing with them in such a language. Suffice that I have sacrificed my own. comfort, if not also that of my readers, on the Indian Government's linguistic altar. As one of the first to do so in this country, I trust I may be excused if my steps have occasionally tripped. When publishing in the Magazine I used the word "Himáliya," but that was only in order to break the usual custom of pronouncing it "Himmalaya," and now return to what is the more strictly accurate form.

One word more, and I have done. Like many other men, I have written hundreds-I may say thousands— of more or less insignificant articles in newspapers and periodicals; but, like the vast majority of my fellow

labourers in that department of literature, I have sought to keep back my name rather than to thrust it obtrusively before the public in connection with productions which, however good or bad of their kind, had no individuality or importance sufficient to warrant their being connected with any particular author. That is the usual feeling of public writers in this country; but there is always some one insensible to it. A few months ago one of those candid friends who are the gentian and rhubarb of life, remarked to me: "What a stupid article that is on the CUTTLE-FISH which you have in ! I wonder you put your name to it." Now the cuttle-fish is a denizen of the ocean with which I am well acquainted, from its toughness as an article of diet, it having been the habit of my Hong-Kong butler to give me a curry of it whenever he was displeased with me, adding, when he saw my frown, the dubious consolation: "Eh! No likey? I tinkee he makee you likey to-mollow (to-morrow) cully too muchee." But to write articles on the cuttle-fish was, I knew, out of my line; and I was shocked at having my name pointed out to me, printed in full, at the bottom of such an article. At first I cherished the hope that this was the work of some practical humourist; but found, on inquiry, that this alter ego, the cuttlefish A. W., was a sad reality; that he had published several articles of the same kind, and had as much title as myself to the name he bears. I know how vain it is

to hope that any pushing young Scotchman will consent to preach behind a screen if he has any opportunity of doing so in front of it; therefore I address no remonstrance or request to the ichthyologist himself. But, would not some Scotch University-say Aberdeen or Glasgow-have the goodness to make a distinction between us by conferring upon him the degree of D.D., L.L.D., or whatever other high academical distinction his arduous researches into the character of the cuttle-fish may justify?

LONDON, July 1875.