NA TURE 



309 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY i, 1894. 



CHINESE CENTRAL ASIA. 

 Russian Central Asia : a Ride to Little Tibet. By 

 Henry Lansdell, D.D., M.R.A S., F.R.G.S., Author of 

 "Through S.iberia,"" Russian Central Asia," "Through 

 Central Asia," &c. Two Vols. (London : Sampson 

 Low, 1893.) 



THERE are i^w, if any, men who have travelled so 

 extensively throughout the length and breadth of 

 Asia as Dr. Lansdell, and in the work before us he has 

 given an interesting account of his last great journey 

 of 50,000 miles, which occupied " two years and seven 

 months, of which 525 were travelling; and 425 were 

 stationary days. The regions visited comprised five of 

 the kingdoms of Europe, four of Africa, and every king- 

 dom of Asia. The methods of travel were 18,000 miles 

 by railway, 25,000 by water, and 7,000 by driving and 

 riding on the backs of horses, camels, donkeys, yaks, 

 elephants, mules, and men." 



Dr. Lansdell is a privileged person, high in favour with 

 influential men in Russia, as well as in England, and 

 has always been permitted to travel freely in all parts of 

 Russia, without let or hindrance, to an extent which would 

 probably hardly be allowed to anyone else. He speaks with 

 high praise of the civility and courtesy with which he 

 was everywhere received, by officials and others ; but 

 apart from this, we are glad to find that now that the 

 Russians have consolidated their power in Central Asia, 

 they are gradually giving up their old exclusiveness, as 

 witness the recent experiences of Lieut. Coningham. 



Dr. Lansdell's primary objects, as before, were chiefly 

 missionary. He distributed copies of the Scriptures in 

 the various languages of the countries through which he 

 passed ; visited mission stations, and prisons, and noted 

 everything likely to be useful for directing future efforts 

 in the same direction. But he has avoided making this 

 feature too prominent a part of his book ; and we are glad 

 to see that there is scarcely a word in reference to other 

 religions which could give offence to the most fastidious, 

 except, perhaps, in his sometimes speaking of Mo- 

 hammed as " the false prophet." 



One object which Dr. Lansdell set before him was to 

 penetrate to Lassa ; but, unfortunately, the difficulties 

 which have baffled every recent traveller happened to be 

 increased at the time by a war on the Indian frontier ; 

 and it is needless to say that he did not succeed. It is to 

 be inferred from his historical notes that Tibet was 

 originally closed against foreigners by the Chinese, and 

 that the custom has since been maintained by the 

 Tibetans 



The greater portion of the book is taken up with the 

 personal narrative of the author's journey. He started 

 from London to St. Petersburg, and thence to Baku, and 

 "via the Transcaspian Railway to ninety-one miles beyond 

 Bokhara, where the line then terminated, though it was 

 being pushed forward at the rate of three miles per day. 

 Thence he proceeded to Issik-Kul, Vierny, Kuldja, Aksu, 

 Yarkand, and over the Karakorum to India, China, 

 Japan, &c., and then back to London via the Suez 

 Canal, visiting many more countries on the way. It is, 

 NTO. 1266, VOL. 49] 



however, only the early part of the journey, as far as 

 India, which is described in detail. 



The Transcaspian Railway was not in existence at the 

 time of Dr. Lansdell's previous journey in Russian Cen- 

 tral Asia in 1882 ; but as far as Kuldja the journey of 

 1888 frequently intersected and sometimes coincided 

 with that of 1882, and the author observed and notes 

 many changes which had taken place in Bokhara, Sam- 

 arcand, Tashkend, &c., since his former visit. At Issik- 

 Kul, and still more beyond Kuldja, he began to break 

 entirely new ground, and it is here that the most 

 interesting part of his narrative begins. We may note 

 incidentally that he obtained a new fish {Diptychtis Lans- 

 delli, Giinther) at Lake Issik-Kul. 



It was not to be expected that during so long and 

 difficult a journey the author should have been able to 

 give attention to every possible subject of interest, but he 

 succeeded in obtaining a large series of photographs of 

 views and natives. Many of these photographs were 

 used to illustrate magazine articles, and have been re- 

 produced in this book. The author, therefore, apologises 

 for the unfinished state of some of his illustrations, on the 

 score of their having been originally prepared for the 

 exigencies of rapid newspaper printing. The numerous 

 types of races figured should make the book very useful to 

 anthropologists ; and the natural history appendices and 

 lists of birds, insects, fish, &c., in which the author had 

 the assistance of various eminent naturalists, will appeal 

 to zoologists. Other matters worth noticing, from a 

 literary and scientific point of view, are the maps, the 

 bibliography and chronology (compiled by Mrs. Lansdell), 

 and the geographical and historical information scattered 

 through the book. To travellers about to set out for the 

 same countries, the account of the author's personal ex- 

 periences cannot but be of much value, though others can 

 hardly expect to be so exceptionally fortunate as Dr. 

 Lansdell. 



Things are greatly changed for the better in Central 

 Asia since the Russian occupation, and Dr. Lansdell was 

 everywhere received as a guest, and treated with the 

 utmost hospitality during the greater part of his journey. 

 It was only between the Russian and British frontiers that 

 he appears to have encountered any very serious hard- 

 ships, and even these were in large measure due to the 

 difficult nature of the country to be traversed. 



Among the Kirghese tribes, near Issik-Kul, the idea of 

 sympathetic cures is firmly fixed. 



" Thus for an obstinate attack of yellow jaundice, they 

 wear on the forehead a piece of gold, or better, cause the 

 patient to look at it for a whole day, or if a piece of gold 

 be lacking, which is generally the case, they substitute a 

 glass basin." 



At Vierny, Dr. Lansdell found many traces of the great 

 earthquake which had devastated the town in the year pre- 

 vious to his visit. We believe that it is somewhat unusual 

 for countries so far inland to be liable to earthquakes, and 

 that Central Asia is exceptional in this particular. 



At Kuldja, the author put up at "the best inn in the 

 town ; above the average of Chinese inns elsewhere." 



" This was my first experience of a Chinese inn, and 

 it made my flesh creep. Passing through a wide door- 

 way, we entered a square courtyard, with rooms on two 

 sides, and occupied in the centre and on a third side by 



