oct — mae. 1858-59.] Selections. 



311 



miris of Ladak at the Gartok fair in the Autumn of 1857, I heard 

 that Adolphe Schlagintweit had succeeded in reaching the mar- 

 gin of the inhabited country at the foot of the Mountains [north 

 of the Kiienliien]. There he went out from his camp some way 

 to reconnoitre, and in his absence the guide Mohammad Hassan 

 absconded, with most of the baggage and cattle*, towards Yar- 

 kand. Adolphe Schlagintweit being left helpless, sent back 

 some of the Ladaki baggagemen he had brought with him with a 

 letter or message to the Thanadar of Leh requesting him to send 

 assistance in men, cattle, provisions and money ; whether for the 

 purpose of continuing his attempt to penetrate into Turkistan or 

 merely to return to Ladak with less hardship, does not appear. 



When his messengers arrived at Leh they found Basti Ram's 

 son in authority there ; the Thanadar himself being away in Kash- 

 mir. The son is said to have refused the required assistance : 

 more likely, in fact, he was too silly and timid to act upon his own 

 responsibility, and referred for instructions to his father or Gulab 

 Singh in Kashmir, at the expense of great delay and danger to 

 Adolphe Schlagintweit. 



3. Information contained in the Delhi Gazette and general re- 

 marks of Capt. Strachey. Summer 1858. 



The following accounts are derived from letters which have been 

 published during the summer 1858 in the Delhi Gazette, from a 

 correspondent of that paper apparently at Simla, and deriving his 

 information from merchant travellers from Ladak. 



From these it may be gathered that Adolphe Schlagintweit, 

 passed the winter of 1857-58 at the foot of the mountains [of the 

 Kiienluen] on the border of Khotan, on this side of the Chinese 

 outposts ; among the same tribe of shepherds, perhaps who gave 

 his brothers a friendly reception the year before. On his arrival 

 there the provinces of Kashgar and Yarkand were in a very dis- 

 turbed state, from one of those invasions of the Turks from K6- 



* Besides the animals of burden : horses and yaks, travellers in these 

 regions are always obliged to take with them a living stock of sheep, 

 goats, etc. for their support. Yak is the name of the Tibetan Ox=Bos 

 gruniens. 



