990 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [A.UG. 



Bolor. The second point is that the Essedones {magna gens, as 

 Ptolemy calls them) derive their name from the gallic word esseda, a 

 chariot, or wagon. Now the people of the country around Beshbalik 

 were called by the Chinese Kiotshang, or wagoners, from Kiotshe, a 

 high-wheeled wagon (quaere the origin of coach ?) These people call 

 themselves Ouigours, who are the Ovtyovpoi of the time of the emperor 

 Justin, and the lOayovpoi or Hrayovpi of Ptolemy ; which two read- 

 ings we may safely change to Oviyovpoi, the Ouigours, who, — as their 

 Chinese appellation of Kiotshang, wagoners, intimates — were the same 

 as the Essedones. The Sera metropolis must have been Beshbalik, the 

 capital of the Ouigours. The Psitaras river of Pliny must be simply 

 the Su-tarini or the river Tarini, that is the united streams of the 

 Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khoten rivers. As an illustration of this view 

 I will only cite the position (to the Southward) of AAiSArA (read 

 AMSArA) which must be Alsaug, or Lassa. The Dabasse, and the 

 Damasse mountains must have some connexion possibly with the 

 Larmas, but more probably with the name of Lassa itself — and the 

 river Daona must be the Dihong, a proof that so far back as the time 

 of Ptolemy the river (Sdn-pn) which flowed past Lassa was the head 

 of the Brahmaputra, or Dihong." 



On the part of the Council of the Society, the Senior Secretary stated 

 that on receipt of Mr. Elliott's letter, announcing the departure of a 

 British mission to Thibet, the Council immediately issued instructions 

 to their Curators and Librarian, and invited the several sections to 

 co-operate with them, in preparing lists of scientific desiderata, which 

 the mission might be enabled to supply. They also appointed Messrs. 

 Hodgson, Campbell and Waugh, all resident at Darjeeling, a corre- 

 sponding sub-Committee of the Society for this special object. 



The Council have much pleasure in stating, that so promptly did the 

 sections and officers of the Society comply with their requisition, that 

 on the tenth day from the receipt of Mr. Elliott's letter, copious docu- 

 ments containing many valuable suggestions were forwarded to the 

 mission, with a set of Bitter and Mahlman's maps. Mr. Frith, a 

 member of the Council, having volunteered to accompany the mission 

 as Naturalist, at his own expense, the Council forwarded his offer, with 

 their cordial support, to the Hon'ble the Deputy Governor, who was 

 pleased to declare his readiness to accept it, but expressed much doubt 

 whether Mr. Frith could then overtake the mission. 



