OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ASIA. 179 



we find him delineating with success, grand geographical fea- 

 tures, hid as it were in the most secret recesses of Asia, which 

 had remained to them entirely unknown. Surely, then, it can- 

 not be denied, that some regard is due to his authority, and 

 that his delineations may possibly prove correct, even where 

 they do not exactly coincide with those of our modern maps. 



It is now time to proceed to the main object, of exhibiting 

 Ptolemy's delineation of Eastern and Central Asia, and com- 

 paring it with the actual features of that Continent. In this 

 analysis, it will be convenient to follow the movements of the 

 great caravan, from which he derived his information. Setting; 

 out from Byzantium, it proceeded through Assyria, Parthia, and 

 other regions of Asia, to Bactria, a country still known under 

 the appellation of Balk or Bulkh. It seems early to have been 

 the depot for the caravan-trade of Central Asia, and had thus 

 acquired a degree of wealth and splendour unknown to the 

 barbarous regions that surrounded it. Thence the travellers 

 proceeded into Sogdiana, which appears in Mr Elphinstone's 

 map under the modern appellation of Shoghnaum The route, 

 which had hitherto been easy and level, assumed now an en- 

 tirely different aspect. Before ascending, however, into that 

 vast mountain world, which Asia incloses in her bosom, it may 

 be necessary to pause, and to take a brief view of its general 

 structure. 



It is well known that Indostan is bordered on the south by 

 a table land of extraordinary elevation, called Great and Little 

 Thibet. Two parallel chains, running from east to west, prop 

 this mighty bulwark of Asia. The southern barrier is formed 

 by that immense chain known under the names of Hindoo 

 Coosh, and Hemalleh or Himalaya, which forms the northern 

 limit of India. The whole extent of it is covered, to a great 

 depth, with perpetual snow, and every measurement yet made,, 



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