INTRODUCTION. 
HE second Danish Pamir Expedition initiated and con- 
1 1 ducted by Professor O. OLursEN, at that time lieutenant 
in the Danish army, left Copenhagen in March 1898. After 
an unavoidable delay at St. Petersburg the expedition pro- 
ceeded by rail southwards through Russia, then by steamer 
across the Caspian and on the 23" of April we, for the first 
time, set foot on Asiatic soil in Krasnowodsk. 
The expedition spent a couple of months in the Trans- 
caspian lowlands visiting Tshardshui, Buchara, Samarkand, 
Tashkent, Kokand, Andidshan and Osh, generally travelling 
by rail. In the middle of June we left Osh and went to 
Pamir, whence we returned in April 1899. The spring and 
summer of 1899 were passed in Ferghana and the Trans- 
caspian lowlands, most of the time in Buchara and Chiwa. 
The journey to Chiwa was made by boat from Tshardshui 
down the Amu Darya (Oxus) and botanically this was one 
of the most interesting parts of the journey, as it afforded a 
good opportunity of studying the deserts of the river banks 
and the «Gallery forests.» The Chiwa journey lasted from 
the middle of June till the end of August when we returned 
to Tshardshui. Here I was fortunate enough to make the 
acquaintance of Mr. V. PALEZKW, inspector of the plantations 
along the Transcaspian railroad, who with the greatest 
kindness showed me these plantations. 
From Tshardshui we returned westward to the Caspian 
Sea. September and October were spent in Persia, whence 
the expedition returned, through Russia, to Copenhagen, 
where we arrived in November 1899. 
