24 
THROUGH ASIA 
fairly well across East Turkestan, Tibet, and Mongolia, 
although there were noteworthy deviations, caused by the 
course of events. In the first place, the route I actually 
followed was much longer than the one projected, and 
included regions which I at first considered altogether 
inaccessible. Furthermore, I altered my plans at the very 
outset, and instead of crossing over the Caspian Sea, which 
I already knew well, I went from Orenburg through the 
Kirghiz steppe. The Pamirs, which were not included in 
my original programme, became the object of three 
extended excursions, during' which the eastern or Chinese 
Pamirs, in particular, were explored in many directions. 
The Takla-makan, the great western extension of the 
Desert of Gobi, was crossed in two directions ; and there 
1 had the great satisfaction of making important archaeo- 
logical discoveries. Finally, I made several expeditions 
into the country between Kashgar, Ak-su, and Khotan. 
After the expedition through the desert to the Tarim and 
Lop-nor, and back again to Khotan, there only remained 
one of the chief objects of the programme, namely Tibet, 
unaccomplished. Then I heard of Dutreuil de Rhins’s 
and Fittledale’s expeditions to pretty nearly the same 
parts as those I Intended to visit, and that both had tried 
to reach Lhasa, and failed. I therefore thought it would 
be better to work those parts of Northern Tibet which 
were still a complete terra incognita. Everywhere there, 
with the exception of the point where I should intersect 
Bonvalot and Prince Henry of Orleans’ route, I should be 
the first European pioneer, and every step would be an 
accession of geographical territory, every mountain, lake, 
and river a discovery. 
After I had successfully accomplished this undertaking, 
although not without great difficulty, instead of following 
the route I had mapped through Mongolia to Urga, I 
preferred to strike a more southerly line, namely through 
Tsaidam, the country of the Tanguts, the territory of 
Koko-nor, and the province of Kan-su, where on several 
occasions I could not help following or crossing the routes 
of other travellers. In Ala-shan I chose a route which 
