2 SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 



The districts traversed by the Yarkand Mission, 1 although all, with the exception of 

 Kashmir, where a mixture of Indian (Oriental) forms is found, within the limits of the Palse- 

 arctic region, still belong to different sub -provinces, distinguished chiefly by their physical 

 characters, and especially by their elevation. Western Tibet or Ladak, in which may be 

 included all the area north of Kashmir drained by the Indus and its tributaries, is a part of 

 the high barren Tibetan plateau, and the fauna comprises typically Alpine forms, such as wild 

 sheep and ibex, marmots, and Lagomys. The fauna inhabiting the ranges commonly known 

 as the Kuenlun, intervening between the northern watershed of the Indus and the low plains 

 of Turkestan, is very similar to that of Tibet proper, but several species appear different. 

 The animals of the plains of Eastern Turkestan around Yarkand and Kashghar belong to 

 very distinct types, and appertain to the desert fauna of Central Asia, characterized especially 

 by the abundance of rodents, such as Gerbillus, Cricetus, and Dipus. The few specimens of 

 the mammals inhabiting the Thian Shan range, Pamir, and Wakhan contained in 

 Dr. Stoliczka's collection are insufficient to give much idea of the fauna, as they were col- 

 lected under great difficulties, during journeys when the ground was for the most part covered 

 with deep snow. The fauna of each of the zoological sub-provinces traversed will, however, 

 need a few remarks : these sub-provinces are — 



I. — Kashmir and the Punjab hills. 

 II. — Western Tibet, or Ladak. 



III. — Kuenlun. 



IV. — Plains of Eastern Turkestan. 



V. — Ranges west and north of Yarkand and Kasbghar, including Sarikol, the Pamir, 

 Wakhan, and the Thian Shan. 



The last should very possibly be subdivided. It is certain that the wild sheep and hare of 

 the Pamir differ from those of the mountains north of Kashghar, and many of the species 

 of mammals inhabiting the mountain ranges of Central Asia appear to have a restricted 

 range. 



Eastern Turkestan has been visited, in modern times by but few European travellers. 

 The most important of these, apart from the members of the two missions under Sir Douglas 



1 The route followed is described in detail in the official " Report of a Mission to Yarkand in 1873 under command of Sir 

 T. D. Forsyth, k. c. s. I., c. b.," Calcutta, 1875; and represented on a map published with the report and compiled by 

 Captain H. Trotter, e.e., of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India, one of the officers attached to the Mission. An account of the 

 journey, and many observations on the fauna, will also be given in Dr. Stoliczka's diary, to be published uniformly with the present 

 and other scientific results. 



Briefly, the following was the line of march. Starting from Murree (Mari) in the Punjab hills, on the 15th July 1873, the party 

 of the Mission to which Dr. Stoliczka was attached proceeded to Srinagar in Kashmir, and thence across the Zoji-la, and by Drag, 

 Kargil, Lamayuru, and Snurla to Leh, in Ladak, where they arrived on the 27th August. After a halt of about a fortnight, the 

 journey was continued over the Chang or Sakti pass to Lukong on the Pankong lake. Thus far the direction followed from Murree 

 had been, on the whole, very nearly due east, but from the Pankong the route lay north or north-west to Kashghar. From 

 Lukong, Dr. Stoliczka marched by Changchenmo, and the high plain of Lingzi Thung, to the head of the Yarkand river at Aktagh, 

 and thence by the Suget Pass across the main Kuenlun axis to Shabidula on the Karakash river, and again over the Sanju or Grim 

 pass to Sanju on the edge of the plain of Eastern Turkestan. Continuing the journey, the Mission party arrived at Yarkand on 

 the 8th November, and at Kashghar on the 4th December. From Kashghar, two excursions were made ; one to the north by west, 

 as far as the Chadyr lake, just inside the Russian frontier ; the other to the north-east as far as the Belowti pass on the road to Ush 

 Turfan. Dr. Stoliczka was then attached to the party under Colonel Gordon ; and, leaving Kashghar on the 17th March 1874, 

 proceeded south-west via Sarikol to the Pamir plateau, and as far as Panjah in Wakhan, where he arrived on the 18th April, and 

 remained a fortnight, returning to Yarkand by the same route, with the exception of a detour on the Pamir. Yarkand was reached 

 on the 21st May, and quitted again on the 28th, whence the Mission party proceeded to recross the Kuenlun by a more western route 

 than before, over the Yangi Diwan, and then took the Karakoram and Shayok route to Leh. Dr. Stoliczka died at Murghi, two 

 marches south of the Karakoram pass, on the 19th June 1874. 



