﻿Unvuipped Areas on EartJt^ Surface. 433 



THE FORBIDDEN CITY. 



The region lying to the north of the Himalayan range 

 and to the south of the parallel of Lhasa is almost a blank 

 on the map, and there is ample room here for the enter- 

 prising pioneer. The forbidden city of Lhasa is at present 

 the goal of several adventurers, though as a matter of fact 

 we cannot have much to learn in addition to what has 

 been revealed in the interesting narrative of the native 

 Indian traveller, Chandra Das. The magnificent moun- 

 tain region on the north and east of Tibet furnishes a 

 splendid field for the enterprising explorer. Mrs. Bishop 

 recently approached it from the east, through Sze-chuen, 

 and her description of the romantic scenery and the 

 interesting non-Mongolian inhabitant leaves us with a 

 strong desire to learn more. On the south-east of Tibet 

 is the remarkable mountainous region, consisting of a 

 series of lofty parallel chains, through which run the 

 upper waters of the Yangtse, the Mekong, the Salwin, and 

 the Irrawaddy. This last-named river, recent exploration 

 has shown, probably does not reach far into the range. 

 But it will be seen by a glance at a map that the upper 

 waters of the other rivers are carried far into the heart of 

 the mountains. But these upper-river courses are entirely 

 conjectural and have given rise to much controversy. 

 There is plenty of work here for the explorer, though the 

 difficulties, physical and political, are great. 



But besides these great unexplored regions there are 

 many blanks to be filled up in other parts of Asia, 

 and regions which, though known in a general way, would 

 well repay careful examination. There is the mountain 

 track between the Zarafshan river and the middle course 

 of the Sarkhab, tributary of the Oxus, and the country 

 lying between that and the Oxus. There is the great 

 Takla-Makan desert in Chinese or Eastern Turkistan, part 

 of which has recently been explored by Eussian expedi- 

 tions and by that young and indefatigable Swedish 



