2 
SECOND YARKAND MISSION. 
valley, and to show that several formations, some of which had not previously been detected, are 
represented in this portion of the Himalayas. In his last journey he has ascertained the 
extension of some of the same rocks to the northward ; and as the regions lying east and west 
of his route are almost unknown, and those to the northward hut imperfectly explored, almost 
the whole geological interest of his journey, with the exception of his observations on a part 
of the Thian Shan range north of Kashghar, depends upon the connection of the formations 
found by him in the Kashmir territories north of the Indus, and in the ranges known on our 
maps as the Mastagh (Karakoram), Kuenluen, and Bolor, with those previously explored in 
the country south of the Indus between Simla, Spiti, and Kashmir. 
Dr. Stoliczka spent the summers of 1864 and 1865 in the North-Western Himalayas and 
Western Tibet, exploring the geology of the ranges. On his first journey, when he was accom¬ 
panied by Mr. Mallet, he went north-east from Simla, crossing the Sutlej at the Wangtu 
bridge, and traversing Bissahir : he crossed the Bhabeh pass, and examined the Spiti valley, 
already known to he rich in fossil remains from the researches and collections of Gerard, 
Strachey, and others. Erom Spiti he marched nearly due north to the Indus, near Sangdo, by 
the Parang pass and the Tso-morari. 1 After two days’ march up the Indus, he returned to 
the Spiti valley by a more eastern route, traversing Hanle, and crossing the Tagling pass. 
After spending some days in the examination of the important formations of Spiti, he 
marched hack to Simla, through Lahaul and Kulu, at some distance to the west of his journey 
northwards. 
The journey in 1865 occupied six months, from the beginning of May to the end of 
October. The area examined lay for the most part to the north-west of his former route, and 
extended to Leh, Kargil (north of Dras), and Srinagar. Starting from Simla, as before, 
he marched north by west, through Suket and Mandi, to Kulu, and thence, across the Rotang 
pass, to Kyelang in Lahaul. Thence he turned east by north, and crossed the Baralatse pass 
to the Tsarap valley, and proceeded across several other passes to Korzog, in Rupshu, on the 
Tso-morari. Here he turned north-west, and travelled by the Taglang pass to the Indus, and to 
Leh. Erom Leh he went almost south-west, across the mountains, to Padam; thence north-west 
again to Suroo and Kargil, from which place he visited the Indus valley to the northward. 
This was his furthest point to the north-west in any of his journeys. Erom the Indus, north of 
Kargil, he marched south-west by Dras into the Kashmir valley, and, after a few days spent at 
Srinagar, he returned by the direct route, via Islamabad, Kishtwar, Budrawar, Chamba, and 
Kangra, to Simla. He suffered greatly from exposure to cold during part of this journey, 
especially in the mountains of Zaskar, south of Leh; and although he gradually recovered 
from the effects of his Himalayan travels, it is probable that permanent injury to his consti¬ 
tution—not very strong originally—was produced by them. 
The results of his explorations, and especially of his first journey, were very great. It 
has been already mentioned that the occurrence of fossils in the Spiti valley, and in some other 
parts of the trans-Himalayan region, had long been known; and considerable collections had 
been made by Gerard, Strachey, the brothers Schlagintweit, and others,—one having been 
obtained by Messrs. Theobald and Mallet, of the Geological Survey. The fossils collected 
had, moreover, been to a great extent described. Dr. Gerard’s collection was, partly and 
imperfectly, illustrated by the Rev. R. Everest in the Asiatic Researches, Vol. XVIII, 
p. 107, plates I &II, and fully described by Mr. H. E. Blanford in 1863. 2 A large collection 
1 Tso = lake. 
2 Journal of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, Yol. XXXII, p. 124. 
