viii CHINESE TURKESTAN 



I have not personally visited, I am careful to give 

 the source from which my news was obtained and 

 my own opinion of how far it is to be trusted. 



With regard to names of places I have followed 

 the local pronunciation, which accounts for such 

 apparent discrepancies as kudak, a well, being 

 sometimes spelt kadak ; kol, a lake, kul, etc. (a = 

 short u; u = oo.) 



Many books of travel which I have read begin, 

 so to speak, in the middle ; for my part I think it 

 a good plan to go somewhat fully into the details of 

 equipment and making up a caravan. These should 

 be found of use for any part of Central Asia, and 

 will show that an expedition there from India is 

 not such a formidable undertaking- as it sounds. If 



o 



I succeed in making things smoother for anyone 

 else who may wish to try the country written of, 

 I shall feel that my labour has not been in vain, 

 and that it has served a better purpose than merely 

 that of filling up the wearisome hours after the 

 day's march. 



The distances were got by timing the caravan, 

 and are, I think, fairly accurate, enough so, at all 

 events, for the guidance of other travellers. 



Two passports are necessary Russian and 

 Chinese. It is no more trouble to have them as 

 comprehensive as possible, and it may be useful as 



