104 Narrative of a Journey to Cho Lagan, fyc. [July, 



(now Rdkas) in their battles with the gods or demigods, about the In- 

 dian Olympus, Kailas. The great Hungarian scholar, Csoma de Koros, 

 I have heard was endeavouring to trace the origin of his own nation, 

 the European Huns, in this quarter. 



Our word Tibet (of which Thibet is a gratuitous corruption) was in- 

 troduced to Europe I believe by Marco Polo, and to India probably by 

 the Mahomedan invaders and rulers from the North ; it appears more 

 than once in the Geographical statements of Abul Fazl, Ayin Akbary ; 

 and the word is probably of Turki origin, " Tibbit" being the term 

 now in use with the Usbeks of Yarkand for Pashm, the wool of the 

 shawl goat. I am not aware of any authentic instance of the acknow- 

 ledgment of the name Tibet by the natives of the country. Turner 

 says distinctly that it is called by the inhabitants " Pue" or " Pue- 

 Koachini" i. e. snowy region of the North. " The land of Tiburut," 

 in the letter of Soopoon Choomboo to Warren Hastings, dated 16th 

 November 1781, (Turner, Appendix III.) is clearly the work of the 

 Persian translator, whose style is conspicuous throughout that com- 

 position ; and Turner's allusion (in a note to his introduction) to " the 

 pronunciation of this name in Bengal, as well as Tibet" though seem- 

 ing to imply the use of the word by the nations of the latter country, 

 may with probability be ascribed to the same origin as Soopoon Choom- 

 boo's expression, as it may be observed that Turner frequently applies 

 to persons and things of Tibet Hindustani names which must have 

 been derived from his interpreters. Continued rain all day and night. 



20th September. — This morning looking a little clearer, or not quite 

 so foul, I prepared to start, but by the time we were ready the rain had 

 set in again as hard as before, and put a stopper on the intended move. 



Weather continued bad all day, but towards sunset, the dense enve- 

 lope of cloud and mist began to break a little, disclosing glimpses of 

 blue sky, also of a very dismal looking snowy ridge to the east, Nam- 

 jung and Lingaru, inferior spurs of the great mountain Api, on the 

 opposite side of the river. A fine starlight night succeeded, with un- 

 clouded sky, inspiring hopes for the morrow. 



21st September. — Fair weather at last, and we resume our journey. 

 I did not find the passage of Nirpania-Dhura quite so troublesome as 

 the accounts of my native guides had led me to anticipate, but a little 

 experience of this part of the Himalaya soon accustoms one to very 



