PREFACE 
XI 
which had hitherto appeared on any map, European or 
Asiatic. 
As a curiosity, I may mention that the 552 sheets upon 
which my route is laid down measure 1 2 1 yards in length ; 
and this does not include the maps I made of the glaciers 
of Mus-tagh-ata. For the present these sheets and such 
other cartographical materials as I brought home with me 
are lodged at the famous geographical institute of Justus 
Perthes in Gotha, where they are all being worked out 
in detail ; and the results will be eventually published 
in Pete^'mann s Mitteihmgen. 
Although fully conscious of the mistakes of my journey, 
and of the shortcomings of this my book, and whilst 
aware that a more experienced traveller would have 
reaped a richer and a more valuable harvest from the 
fields upon which I laboured, I nevertheless comfort 
myself with the reflection that I believe I really did my 
best as far as lay in my power. 
A word or two as to the accessories of the book. The 
two principal maps have been prepared at the Litho- 
graphical Institute of the (Swedish) General Staff, under 
the superintendence of Lieut. H. Bystrom ; my original 
place-determinations being embodied upon Curzon’s map 
of the Pamirs, and Pievtsoff’s map of Central Asia, as 
foundations for the two maps respectively. Their primary 
purpose is to illustrate and make clear the routes I 
followed. Hence they do not claim to be accurate in 
matters of minute detail ; indeed they could not be so, 
seeing that my cartographical data have not yet been 
completely worked out. 
In consequence of the generosity of my publishers, 
I am fortunately enabled to impart a fuller measure of 
life and reality to certain exciting and characteristic 
incidents of my story by means of pictures drawn by 
