d
the Upper Oxus Valley, which as a field of exploration had attracted me
long before I set foot in India. Notwithstanding its great elevation, the
Wakhjir Pass and its approaches both from west and east are comparatively
easy. Comparing the topographical facts with Hiuen-Tsiang's account in the
_Si yu-ki_, I am led to conclude that the route followed by the great
Chinese Pilgrim, when travelling about A.D. 649 from Badakshan towards
Khotan, through 'the valley of Po-mi-lo (Pamir)' into Sarikol, actually
traversed this Pass."

Dr. Stein adds in his notes to me that "Marco Polo's description of the
forty days' journey to the E.N.E. of _Vokhan_ as _through tracts of
wilderness_ can well be appreciated by any one who has passed through the
Pamir Region, in the direction of the valleys W. and N. of Muztagh Ata.
After leaving Tashkurghan and Tagharma, where there is some precarious
cultivation, there is no local produce to be obtained until the oasis of
Tashmalik is reached in the open Kashgar plains. In the narrow valley of
the Yamanyar River (Gez Defile) there is scarcely any grazing; its
appearance is far more desolate than that of the elevated Pamirs."--"Marco
Polo's praise (p. 181) of the gardens and vine-yards of Kashgar is well
deserved; also the remark about the trading enterprise of its merchants
still holds good, if judged by the standard of Chinese Turkestan. Kashgar
traders visit Khotan far more frequently than _vice versa_. It is strange
that no certain remains of Nestorian worship can be traced now."--"My
impression [Dr. Stein's] of the people of the Khotan oasis (p. 188) was
that they are certainly a meeker and more docile race than e.g. the
average 'Kashgarlik' or Yarkandi. The very small number of the Chinese
garrison of the districts Khotan and Keria (only about 200 men) bears out
this impression."

We may refer for the ancient sites, history, etc., of Khotan to the
_Preliminary Report_ of Dr. Stein and to his paper in the _Geographical
Journal_ for December, 1902, actually in the press.

5.--NUMBER OF PAMIRS. (Vol. i. p. 176.)

Lord Curzon gives the following list of the "eight claimants to the
distinction and title of a Pamir": (1) Taghdumbash, or Supreme Head of the
Mountains Pamir, lying immediately below and to the north of the Kilik
Pass. (2) The Pamir-i-Wakhan. (3) The Pamir-i-Khurd, or Little Pamir. (4)
The Pamir-i-Kalan, or Great Pamir. (5) The Alichur Pamir. (6) The Sarez
Pamir. (7) The Rang