92 Correspondence of the Commissioners [Feb. 



rological and Magnetical instruments, and of collecting as much infor- 

 mation as possible regarding the country and people. Hourly observa- 

 tions of the meteorological instruments and of the declinometer have 

 been recorded for two days ; and the magnetic dip and horizontal force 

 have likewise been determined. The latitude of Le has been fixed by 

 7 meridian altitudes of the Sun, by about 30 equal altitudes of the 

 Sun, and by several altitudes of the Pole Star ; and its longitude has 

 been obtained by the observations of the solar eclipse of this day. 



2. We purpose to leave Le to-morrow morning by two different 

 routes. Dr. Thomson will proceed to Nubra, and up the Shayok river 

 to its source ; and, if possible, he will cross the Karakoram range for a 

 few marches to the northward, on the Yarkand road ; after which he 

 will return by the Shayok river and follow its course down to Iskardoh. 

 I have furnished him with a sextant and a surveying compass of my 

 own; and I have no doubt he will be able to map his route with 

 considerable accuracy. 



He has also minimum and boiling-point thermometers, as well as 

 solar radiation and dry and wet bulb thermometers, 



3. I will myself take a southerly route by following the Indus for a 

 few marches to Khalets or Kulutsi, and thence to the Dras river, which 

 I will survey to its source. From Dras, if the passes remain open, I 

 will proceed by the Pilyl [or Pileel] rivulet, an eastern feeder of the 

 Kishen-Gunga river, to Astor or Hasora, and down the Hasora river, and 

 across the Indus to Gilgit. If, however, the western passes should be 

 closed at the head of the Dras river, I will then proceed through the 

 northern part of Kashmir to the head of the Kishen-Gunga river, and 

 thence by the Hasora river to Gilgit. 



4. We have chosen these routes to the north and south of the 

 course of the Indus, in order that we might not go over the same 

 ground as Lieut. Strachey ; who from the lateness of the season at 

 which he will arrive at Le, will be obliged to take the river route. We 

 shall thus have three distinct routes surveyed from Le towards Gilgit. 



5. Of the necessity of surveying any lines of country which have 

 been traversed by Trebeck and Vigne, I need produce no other proof 

 than the disagreement between their maps. To the general accuracy of 

 Trebeck' s survey I can speak personally : as on three different occasions, 

 in 1839, in 1846, and during the present year, I have myself surveyed 



