in the Alichor, from which another stream issues, and falls into the Murghab, below its junction with the Aksu. I have already mentioned the Siriz Pamir when speaking of the Aktash Valley. This Pamir appears to be a continuation of that valley, similarly as the Little Pamir is, and as the Taghdungbash is of the Sirikol Valley. It seems to run from Ak-balik in the east, to Bartang in the west. Bartang is the beginning of the inhabited and cultivated portion of Shighnan in that direction. It is described as abounding with fruitbearing trees, and must, therefore, be much lower than Kila Panja, with a very different climate. It is easy to believe this when the long course of the Aksū-Mūrghāb, with a steady fall, is considered. The Kirghiz spoke of the Rung Kül, a large lake, about one day's journey from Ak-Balik, and situated in the Siriz Pamir. This, probably, is the Rung Kül of Pamir Khurd mentioned in Colonel Yule's Essay On the Geography of the Oxus,' the Aktash Valley and Siriz Pamir being thus regarded as the Little Pamir, of which they are but the continuation, as I have already explained. By the Kirghiz accounts the Great Karakül is four days, the Little Karakul three, the Rung Kūl (one), and the Yeshil Kul two-and-a-half days' journey from AkBalik. I estimate the day's journey in these accounts at about 15 miles in a direct line. Abdül Mejid made 7 marches from Khargashi to the Great Karakul. Of these probably one was to the Alichor, two down it to Ak-Bālik, and four up the Murghab by the road which is said to traverse its banks. The animals of the Pamirs are the Ovis Poli, ibex, brown bear, leopard, lynx, wolf, fox, marmot, and hare. They remain throughout the year, the bear hybernating for a long time in winter. The wild yak is not known on or near the Pamirs. Wild-fowl swarms on the lakes in summer. We saw wild ducks and geese at the head of the Great Pamir lake-stream. We were not fortunate in pursuit of game. On the way over to Wakhan the snow lay too deep to permit of sport, and on the way back our very limited supplies would not admit of a halt for the purpose. The only Ovis Poli obtained was one shot by Captain Trotter, on a long march of 37 miles. We saw very large flocks of this gigantic sheep on the Great Pamir. The horns of Ovis Poli and the ibex lie in great numbers on the Pamir. These animals suffer heavily from the leopards and wolves, which prey entirely on them. A murrain is also said to have made great havoc among both some years ago. ibex are similar to the Himalayan species, and accordingly differ from those we saw in the Thian Shan Range, which were of the black species, also found in the Kuen Lun. I brought The from the Great Pamir a pair of Ovis Poli, measuring 65 inches round the curve, 53 inches in a straight line from tip to tip, and 16 inches round the base. I presented this splendid head to the British Museum, where it is now to be seen. We experienced none of the symptoms of great height, headache, and difficulty of respiration, on the Pamirs in the degree that native travellers have described. None of our people suffered in any way beyond breathlessness when exertion was made. There was perfect health among our party throughout the journey. One of the Wakhis who accompanied us with supplies over the Great Pamir died suddenly on the last march to Aktash from heart disease, and this was the only casualty or sickness even among the numbers of men who were attached to our camp when crossing and recrossing the Pamirs. All the natives of India with us bore the severe cold and hard work with remarkable endurance and courage. The Pamir Plateau may be described as a great, broad, rounded ridge, extending north and south, and crossed by thick mountain-chains, between which lie elevated valleys, open, and gently sloping towards the east, but narrow and confined, with a rapid fall towards the west. The waters which run in all, with the exception of the eastern flow from the Taghdūngbāsh, collect in the Oxus; the Aksu from the Little Pamir Lake receiving the eastern drainage, which finds an outlet in the Aktash Valley, and joining the Murghab, which obtains that from the Alichor and Siriz Pamirs. Our observations and inquiries show the true East and West Watershed of Central Asia in that quarter to extend from the head of the Taghdūngbāsh, along the Neza Tash Range, to the Kizil Art Plain. It is remarkable that, while we found the Little Pamir Lake not to be the source of the Sarhadd branch of the Oxus, we discovered it to be the source of a much larger branch of that river if taken in connection with the Murghab. The messenger whom I sent from Wakhan with a complimentary letter to present to Eusuf Ali Shah, the Chief of Shighnan, at his capital, Bar Panja, on the left bank of the Oxus, found, on arrival there, that the Chief was at Wamar, in Roshan, further down on the right bank of the river. He proceeded there, and on his way crossed at Wamar the Murghābi or Bartang River, near its junction with the Panja, as the Wakhan Stream continues to be called there. This name Panja the united streams carry to Kulab, after which the river is known as the Amū or Hāmu. The Murghābi at its junction was observed to be larger in volume and more rapid in current than the Panja. 66 The former was then (11th May) "thick, red, and muddy," while the Panja was very clear." Captain Trotter has corroborative information regarding the greater size of the Mūrghabi over the Panja. We saw hot springs at Patur, 35 miles below Sarhadd (temperature 130°), at Zong, near Kila Panja, and at Isligh, between the Great Pamir Lake and the Aktash Valley. We made repeated inquiries from Kirghiz, Wakhis, and Sirikolis, regarding "Bolor" as a name for any mountain, country, or place, but no one could give us any information of it, and the name is evidently quite unknown among them. I have already explained how the name of a place has been mistaken for that of the Little Pamir Lake. A similar mistake appears to have been made in the name "Sirikol" given to the Lake of Great Pamir. When speaking of our journey up to the Lake, and inquiring about stages and distances, we were told of halting being possible at "Bun-Bekh and Payán-i-Kul" (base, root or foot of lake), Mirján, and Barábar-i-Kul (middle and half-way up the lake), and Bála and Sir-i-Kul (a base-head of the lake). Sirikul was most frequently mentioned, being the usual caravan stage, and it was said in such a way as to lead easily to the idea of its being the name of the lake. When the guides were asked pointedly the real name of the lake, they answered "Kül-i-Kulan "(the great lake), because there is no other lake in the country equal to it in size." Therefore the name Victoria given by Wood displaces no distinctive local one, and may well continue to be used without fear of causing confusion. Regarding the name "Pamir," the meaning is wilderness-a place depopulated, abandoned, waste, yet capable of habitation. was told this on the Great Pamir by one of our intelligent guides who said, in explanation: "In former days when this part was inhabited by Kirghiz, as is shown by the ruins of their villages, the valley was not all called Pamir as it is now. It was then known by its village names, as in the country beyond Sirikol, which being now occupied by Kirghiz is not known by one name, but partly as Charling, Bas Robat, &c. If deserted it would be Pamir." The Shewa Plain, a summer pasture resort to the north-west of Faizabad, Badakhshan, is also called Pamir by the people there. It is probable that in Marco Polo's time, and even in Abdul Mejid's, the Kizil Art Plain was known as "Pamir," according to the meaning of the word as explained. The Kizil land was merely a summer pasture resort of the Kirghiz there, and was only permanently occupied about seven years ago. The difference of elevation between it and the Aktash Valley and the Alichor, Great and Little Pamirs, all lying in the routes travelled, is comparatively small, and the absence of detail as to the flow of rivers, &c., led to belief in the existence of one far-extending "steppe" from Victoria Lake to the Alai range. The meaning of Sirikol is generally believed to be " the yellow valley," but Hassan Shah, the governor, gave me his opinion that it is a corruption of "Sir-i-koh," as the valley runs up to a considerable elevation. On finding the valley to be a continuation of the Taghdungbash, I looked upon Hassan Shah's explanation as probably correct, from the fact of its being a literal translation of Taghdungbāsh, both meaning "head of the mountain." Nothing seems more likely than that the Persian-speaking Sirikolis should, on settling in the valley, give it a Persian name, literally interpreting its Turki one. Wakhan on the Pamir owns the western Taghdungbāsh from the watershed, the Little and Great Pamirs, and the left bank of the Aksu from the head of the Aktash Valley in the south, to Ak-Balik in the north. The eastern boundary of Wakhan is conterminous with the western one of Kashghar from the Taghdungbash to Ak-Balik, and Kashghar also owns the Kizil Art Plain, meeting the Khokand frontier at the Kizil Art Pass which leads to the Alai Plateau. Shignan owns the Alichor and Siriz Pamirs. There is no intermediate tract of country held by independent Kirghiz or other people; the whole of the extent from Herat on the west to Turfan on the east is held by Kabul and Kashghar. We were very reluctant to leave the Kizil Art unexplored, but circumstances beyond our control compelled us to pass on. We retraced our steps to Tāshkūrgān, and after three days' halt there continued our journey towards Yarkand. We went by the Tagharma Plain, and the Kok Moinok Pass. We had a fall of snow at Chihil Gambaz on the night of the 14th of May, and cold weather till the 18th, when we were at once plunged into extreme heat at Egiz Yar in the plains. We arrived at Yarkand on 21st May, left on the 28th, and reached Leh on 29th June. Three days after crossing the Karakorum we suffered the deep affliction of losing by death one of our party, Dr. Stoliczka, a highly valued friend and talented companion. His death is a great loss to the scientific world, for is is not to be expected that his notes on geology, natural history, and other scientific subjects, can be presented to it in as perfect form as the author would have produced. On our return to India, the Viceroy caused a letter, accompanied with valuable presents, to be sent to the Chief of Wakhān, in acknowledgment of his hospitality, aid, and protection to us. It was mainly owing to this Chief's friendly assistance that we succeeded in our exploration. He was a very old man, and we found him, as I have mentioned, in a feeble state of health. It was a matter of great satisfaction to us that the letter and presents reached him before his death, which took place early this year. The letter and presents were safely delivered by a trustworthy native officer, who proceeded with them from Peshawur, and replies were received from the old Chief and his son, Ali Murdan Shah, expressing much happiness at being remembered by their English friends. Murdan Shah is now ruler of Wakhan. Ali What I have now said gives merely the observations of an ordinary traveller, as to what was seen and the information gathered by careful inquiry from many individuals of the different races and clans we met in our journey regarding the countries in the immediate vicinity of our routes. The geography of the scene of our travels has been ably and scientifically dealt with by Captain Trotter, of the Royal Engineers, and the result of the lamented Dr. Stoliczka's valuable researches in geology, botany, and natural history is now being prepared for publication under the orders of the Government of India. XV.—Journey to Lake Chad and Neighbouring Regions. IF I had not taken advantage of the opportunity afforded by a mission from the King of Prussia-the sending of presents to the Sheik Omar, Sultan of Bornu, science would not have received any benefit from this Expedition, since, if I had not decided to go, the Government would have entrusted a native with the conveyance of the presents. I held it to be my duty, therefore, as far as my feeble powers would allow, to serve the interests of geography and of knowledge. Our home Government, at that time, had no intention of adding any work of exploration to my mission; and as I was myself residing then in Africa, and had resolved on the journey only four weeks before starting, I travelled with the most modest resources, with the most incomplete outfit, and quite alone. Although I do not consider that this light equipment would be a disadvantage in journeys of discovery, properly so called-that is in travelling through or opening up perfectly unknown lands— * Read before the Geographical Section of the British Association, at Bristol, August, 1875. |