EEE 
‘6 RE Rete r= 
OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ASTA. 185 
a succession of hardships, perils, and hair-breadth escapes, such 
as never mortals before encountered. Whether the worthy 
missionaries might somewhat exaggerate perils through which 
_they themselves passed, I shall not inquire; but we have also 
.the ‘report of an Indian traveller to Mr Exprrnstone, that a 
little beyond the Cashmirian frontier, there began an uninter- 
rupted, and, in some places, a very steep ascent, of thirteen 
days, to’ Ladauk. That place itself is described by the mis- 
‘sionaries, as the: abode of almost perpetual winter, and all the 
hills around covered with snow. Yet the river being already 
of considerable magnitude, this can only be a lower stage of 
the great eminence from which it descends. Ladauk, too, be- 
ing the established line of communication between Great and 
Little Thibet, must be the most level one, and the mountains 
must present, at every other point, a still loftier barrier. 
_ There appears, thus, no reason to doubt, that the Ridge of 
Imaus exists, and in the very region where it is placed by Pro- 
tEMy. Up to this point, therefore, his description of Cen- 
tral Asia, taken in its simple and obvious sense, proves to 
be consistent with itself; and with the ascertained features 5 
the region which it professes to delineate. 
Having passed this formidable barrier, we arrive at the ex- 
tensive region’ of Scythia extra Imaum. Upon the data now 
‘stated, this ‘can only be Great Thibet, with an extent of Tarta- 
ry stretching’ indefinitely northwards. After’ Scythia comes 
the famous Serica, the ultimate object of inquiry, the remotest 
country known’ to the’ ancients. If Scythia extra Imaum be 
Great Thibet, the next great country must be China. But as. 
this is a point so curious | and so much contested, it may be ne- 
cessary to examine, whether the inference derived from the ge- 
neral line of Proremy’s course through Asia is ie an by 
h biiiaes VILL. Pil Aa his: 
