1184 Hiuan Thsang' s Itinerary. [Dec. 



In attempting; to reach the identity of some of the places mentioned, 

 after many failures I was induced to try the substitution of the Arabic 

 and Persian alphabet for the French readings of the Chinese original 

 names ; and my labours appear to me to have been rewarded with a 

 success I had little anticipated. 



My attention has been solely directed to the work in its geographical 

 character. I have entirely abstained from any mention of those portions 

 of the work which relate to the Buddhist religion ; entire ignorance 

 forbids my touching on these topics, which I leave to those better 

 qualified for such an undertaking-— but to me it appears, that if my 

 identifications will stand the test of further examination and criticism, 

 they must destroy the antiquity claimed for the original, and in some 

 degree shake the authority which is now being given to these Chinese 

 books. 



The French translator's appendix runs thus : — 



Itinerary of " Hitjan Thsang." 



" Hiuan Thsang visited the same countries as dry fa Hian, but he 

 extended his pilgrimage much farther than the latter. He traversed 

 Tokharestan, Affghanistan, Scinde and almost every part of Hindustan : 

 and his narrative, entitled Si in ki, or descriptions of the countries of 

 the West, offers to us a complete picture of the state of India in the 

 first half of the 7th century of our era. Unfortunately it is not pos- 

 sessed at Paris in its original and primitive forms ; it is only found in 

 garbled fragments, though almost entire in the great Historical and 

 Geographical compilation, which under the name of Pian i Han, con- 

 tains the History of foreign nations, classed according to the epochs 

 when they were first known to the Chinese, so that it was found neces- 

 sary entirely to subvert the order which travellers have preserved in 

 their recitals. It is this order I have endeavored to re-establish in as 

 far as concerns Hiuan Thsang, in the resume which follows, by the 

 help of some indications lately published by M. Klaproth, and I 

 believe I have accomplished it with exactness. The narrative of Hiuan 

 Thsang has been so often cited in the notes to the Foe koue ki, and 

 furnished so much useful knowledge, that a comparison embracing the 

 travels of the two travellers cannot be considered as superfluous. 1 have 

 indicated by a line this route thus restored upon the Chinese Japanese 

 Map that accompanies the present volume." 



