158 GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS. 



on account of the difficulty of getting supplies, he returned through 

 the Sirtkang plain and Sachu (both of which had been visited by 



A k), and from Nainshe crossed the desert to Hami. From the 



latter place he followed the usual route along the foot of the Tian 

 Shan mountains through Turfan, Karashahr, Kuchar, Aksu, Yarkand, 

 and the Karakoram pass to Ladak. 



The journey forms an extremely interesting link between the 

 discoveries of Prshevalsky in his two Tibetan journeys of 1879-80 



and 1884-85 and those of the Indian explorer A k, and was of 



such importance as to earn for its author the gold medal of the 

 Royal Geographical Society. 



A great deal of geographical and general information respecting 

 Tibet has been collected within the last few years by two native 

 officials of the Bengal Educational Department, viz., Babu S. C. D. 

 and the Lama U. G. In 1879 S. C. D., being about to journey to 

 Shigatze on business of his own, and anxious to make the most of 

 his opportunities for acquiring new geographical information, under- 

 went a course of training in surveying and observing, under the 

 Pundit Nain Singh. He then set out from Jongu, in Sikkim, and, 

 traversing the north-east corner of Nepal, crossed into Tibet by the 

 formidable Chatang La pass and travelled northwards to Shigatze, 

 on the Sanpo. He returned by much the same way to near 

 Khamba Jong, and re-entered Sikkim by the Donkia pass. His 

 journey was fruitful of information, the observations of bearings and 

 distances were carefully taken and recorded, and of much 'value 

 for mapping. 



S. C. D. is the author of a " Narrative of a Journey to 

 " Lhasa, 1881-82." with a supplementary paper on the Government 

 of Tibet. * The work, though at times overladen with traditions 

 and legends, is a most interesting and valuable description of the 

 journey, of the country, and of the people, though the geographical 

 information is rather meagre. The route followed by him and his 

 companion in 1881 starts from Darjeeling and runs by way of the 

 Kongla-ch6n pass, Tashi-Lhunpo, Dong-tse, and the Samding 

 monastery to Lhasa, and thence back again to Darjeeling. 



S. C. D. intended to publish a second volume, containing a 

 narrative of his journey round Lake Palti, a series of papers on the 



* Bengal Secretariat Press. Calcutta, 1885. 207 pages. The Secretary to the 

 Royal Geographical Society has informed me that they propose to bring out a carefully 

 edited abstract of this work. 



