PREFACE. 



The following narrative constitutes an account of a Trans- Asiatic 

 journey of nearly four thousand miles which led me from India 

 through Kashmir, Gilgit, Hunza, and over the Pamirs (the Roof of 

 the World), thence through Chinese Tartary, Mongolia, and 

 Siberia, to the Trans-Siberian Railway, a journey to the successful 

 completion of which considerable doubt had been expressed prior 

 to my departure, since it had never previously been essayed. 



The book lays no claim to being other than a plain record of a 

 year's wanderings in the lesser known parts of Central Asia for the 

 purposes of sport and travel. 



An expedition of this nature cannot but be interesting and 

 instructive from whatever point of view it is regarded, since it 

 affords some of the finest shooting in the world, leads amongst 

 strange and fascinating tribes of nomads, and takes one through 

 countries which ancient associations have 'invested with a halo of 

 romance, and have, more particularly in recent years, given rise to 

 questions of deep political import. 



It has been asked what are the possibilities of the journey 

 across Asia from India to Siberia being accomplished in the future 

 by means of the railway. On such a question I would not venture 

 to legislate, since it is essentially one for the engineer rather than the 

 wandering sportsman. From my own observations, however, such 

 an undertaking seems impracticable, for the lofty mountain ranges 

 to be crossed and the many stupendous physical obstacles to over- 

 come appear to me to present insurmountable difficulties. Never- 

 theless, it may be that in the years which are to come the 

 engineering skill and indomitable perseverance displayed by the 

 nations of the West will triumph and a Trans-Asiatic railway 

 eventuate. 



