May 25, 1857.] THIBET. 437 



Pindari, was joined "by his brother Eobert; and they examined 

 together the glacier of Mihim, which surpasses in extent all those 

 of Switzerland. It is from 8 to 10 miles in length, and 3000 feet 

 broad. The mountains which surround this glacier consist of 

 crystalline schist, covered by fossiliferous strata of the Silurian 

 age. The two brothers have also measured the height of Nanda 

 Devi, an insulated peak surrounded by deep precipices, at the foot 

 of which is the glacier of Pachou. 



But rather than attempt, on my own part, any sketch of what 

 these distinguished German travellers have accomplished, I will 

 here quote to you, from the pen of Humboldt himself,* a short 

 summary, which he has sent me, of their remarkable explorations. 



" Hermann and Eobert Schlagintweit," says the Baron, " have had 

 the proud satisfaction of passing in August, 1856, the chain of 

 the Kuen-luen mountains, and of reaching Eltschi in the province 

 of Khotan. As I am vain enough to believe that my map of Central 

 Asia (the result of five months' labour, in bringing together the 

 detailed accounts of the Buddhist priests Fahian and Stenan-thiang, 

 with those of Marco Polo, Wood the explorer of the Pamir, 

 Burnes, Yigne, together with the excellent sources of information 

 supplied by Klaproth and Stanislas Julien) represents more faith- 

 fully the formation of the ground than the other maps in your pos- 

 session, the range of which beyond the Himalaya is mythologically 

 doubtful, I invite you to examine it before you read or rather try 

 to decipher these lines. A botanist of the highest merit, Dr. 

 Thomas Thomson, who, conjointly with my excellent friend Joseph 

 Hooker, published in 1855 the 'Flora Indica,' says in the Intro- 

 duction Statistique, p. 215, 'The chain of the Kuen-luen, where it 

 foims the northern boundary of Western Thibet (where Dr. Thomson 

 resided a considerable time), is as lofty as the Himalaya.' Its axis 

 has not been crossed by any European traveller^ but has been reached by 

 Dr. Thomson, who visited the Kara-korum pass, elevated 18,300 feet. 

 This testimony will show you the importance of the success of the 

 brothers Schlagintweit. On the morning of the day, on which they 

 crossed by the Kara-korum pass, they met a caravan coming from 

 Yarkand, and near the salt lake of Kiook-Kiul they found the hot 

 springs of Panamik and Tchanglung, with a Centigrade temperature 

 of 74° 2' and 78°, and on an immense plateau at altitudes of from 



* For the letters of the brothers Schlagintweit, communicated by Baron von 

 Humboldt, see also the Berlin 'Zeitschrift der Allgemeiner Erdkunde' for 1856, 

 pp. 532, 551. 



