Money and Exchange. 



and Persian, and have served with well-known travellers, but 

 from what I could glean they had little else to recommend them, 

 their main object in life apparently being to get the better of 

 the inexperienced stranger. 



Fortunately I knew Hindustani, Persian, and Pushtu, the 

 second of which languages I found to be useful in Southern 

 Chinese Turkistan amongst the educated Mahommedan popu- 

 lation, and on the Pamirs, where the nomad Kirghiz possess an 

 acquaintance with Persian, in addition to their own tongue. 

 This obviated to a considerable extent the interpreter difficulty, 

 and enabled me to convey my orders direct and not through 

 the medium of another, who generally manages to pass on one's 

 remarks in a mutilated form. 



The matter of money and its exchange at points throughout 

 the journey are less embarrassing than might be imagined. 

 Indian money is accepted on the Pamirs, and for one's 

 financial needs beyond it can be converted into Chinese money 

 at the current rate of exchange. The latter is mostly in the form 

 of parchment notes, though silver coin is also obtainable. This 

 coin has again to be changed in Hi owing to the variation in the 

 face value. Russian roubles are acceptable practically through- 

 out Central Asia, more especially in the Thian Shan, and as 

 there are branches of the Russo-Chinese Bank at Kashgar and 

 Kulja, no difficulty would be experienced financially if arrange- 

 ments are made with the latter. 



