50 Report on Trans-Himalayan Explorations, Se. [No. 1, 



The Pundit was informed that 5 days' march to the north, there 

 was a large district called Jung Phaiyu-Pooyu, and that through- 

 out its whole extent, the earth is of the same white kind as that 

 they were crossing over, so white in fact that the eyes of people 

 who are unaccustomed to it, get inflamed from its glare, just as if 

 they were suffering from snow-blindness. The district is inhabited 

 by Bokpa people ; it is under Lhasa, but said not to form part of 

 Narikhorsum, having a separate Sarpon, or gold commissioner, of 

 its own. The largest encampment in it is called Thok-daurapa said 

 to have at least 200 tents. The district abounds in small tarns. 

 It must be very elevated, as the inhabitants are said to eat very 

 little if any grain. 



A large river is said to flow from Jung Phaiyu-Pooyu northwards 

 and then to the east towards China. The district is said to take 

 its name from some high snow} r peaks which are probably those 

 at the eastern end of the Kiun-Lun range. 



The Whor (or Hor) country is said to be due north of the district, 

 and from information gathered elsewhere there is little doubt but 

 that Whor (or Hor) is the Tibetan name for eastern Turkistan. 



As to the district of Phaiyu-Pooyu, with its river flowing towards 

 China, it is difficult to decide whether it is known by any other 

 name, but it probably lies considerably to the east of north, com- 

 municating with Lhasa by the Tengri-noor lake district. A simi- 

 lar white soil has been noticed to the east of the Chang-chenmo, and 

 Mr. Johnson, when seven marches to the north of that valley at 

 a place called Yongpa, reported that " on looking down from a height 

 the whole plain has the appearance of being covered with snow." 

 He attributed this to saltpetre. M a h o m m e d A m e e n, 

 in the route he supplied, said that " beyond the pass (north of 

 Chang-chenmo) lies the Aksai-Chin, or as the term implies the 

 the great Chinese white desert or plain. It is sandy and gravelly 

 and covered with brush-wood. Its breadth here from south to 

 north may be reckoned to be about sixty kos. It extends into 

 Chinese Territory, to the east. There are several lakes and gold 

 mines in it, &c." This quite answers to the accounts that the 

 3rd Pundit heard, a separate gold Commissioner proving the ex- 

 istence of many gold fields. No high, peaks were seen to the east 



