eastern boundary, Changthang lying between. And as Khotan is altogether on the N. side of the Mooz Taugh, in 37° N. lat., that range is, in geographical strictness, the real N. and N.E. boundary both of Ladauk and Changthang.

Having little or no knowledge of the interior of Ladauk, it would be presumptuous to attempt any detailed description of its surface. It is quite evident, however, that, as it is merely a long and apparently narrow valley, watered by the Indus, and surrounded on all sides by lateral ridges descending to the main stream from the great ranges that bound the principality, its surface must be very rugged and irregular, having a constant interchange of hills and valleys, each watered by its mountain-stream, -in other words, a complete piece of net-work, which may indeed be represented on a map, but which language cannot describe. Many of the hills are of great altitude, but far inferior in elevation to the ranges whence they proceed; and the hollows between are profound, dangerous, and difficult to pass, which renders travelling laborious and tedious. It appears, that, after a journey of five days N.E. of Cashmere, an evident ascent commences, which is very great for four days successively, after which it is less, on to Ladauk. But still it continues even on to the great range which separates Tibet from Yarkund. To the left of this route the country is also very mountainous, but perfectly desolate, and on this account we have little information concerning it. A route from Deer, in Punjcora, passes E. through the southern part of this region, but it is excessively mountainous and difficult. Two marches before Izzet Oollah reached the pass of Karrakoorom, he fell in with an icy elevated range, called Khumdan, which, as he was informed, reached 200 cosses from S.E. to N.W., and which separated Baltistaun from the district of Surrikol, on the frontier of Badakshaun. Communication with the neighbouring countries, except up the valley of the Indus, is extremely difficult, whether with Cashmere, or Khashghar, or Yarkund, or Khotan, or the Punjaub, or the Speetee; every where mountain-ranges must be crossed ere Ladauk be entered, so that it is, as it were, an insulated region, secluded from the rest of the world, the course of the Indus being its only outlet. It is extremely well watered, from the numberless streams which run from valley to valley, increasing as they descend their rugged channels, till they reach their common receptacle the Indus. In the Cashmerian language, the principality of Ladauk is called Booten, (Bootan) says Izzet Oollah; by the inhabitants themselves Ladagh; and in Persian and Toorkish Tibet,—that word signifying, in Toorkish, shawl-wool. That shawl-wool is produced most abundantly in this mountainous region, is true, but it is not the reason of the name, which is more rationally supposed to be a corruption of the Tibetian words Tenboot, 'kingdom of Boodh,' as Father Georgi thinks,-just as the word 'Bootten' is 'Ten-boot' reversed. The climate is very cold, as might be expected from its great elevation, and as lying between the Himalaya, Caillas, and Mooz Tagh ranges, which must influence its temperature very much. From whatever airth the wind blows, it must be from these snowy heights, and it communicates a sharpness to the air, of which people coming thither from the warm temperature of Hindostan must feel very sensibly. Mountains half-covered with snow during the greater part of the year skirt the plain at no great distance, where stands the city of Ladauk. Even in the month of June it freezes every night at Ladauk; and Moorcroft had still to use his warm furs along with his companions.-The city of Lee, or Ladauk, is situated on the eastern extremity of a plain, in the

recess formed between two contiguous hills of moderate height, with the summits of both which the town is connected by a wall terminating in some buildings intended for defence. The Sanpo, or Indus, flows about a coss to the S. of the place. The gesibo, or chief, resides in the middle of the town, in a lofty building, the form of which is precisely similar to the Tibetian edifices as depicted by the old travellers. The houses are of stone or unburnt brick, the beams of poplar-wood, the dwellings of three or four stories, and the city contains 1000 such. The valley of the Sanpo here is from 2 to 4 coss broad for a distance of 17 coss up the river, and is very richly cultivated with wheat and barley. As the territory of Ladauk is almost entirely composed of hills and moors, it is a grazing country for almost every species of graminiverous animals, especially horses, and sheep, and goats. The dogs of Tibet are twice as large as those of Hindostan, having large heads, long coats, and so amazingly fierce and strong, as to be singly a match for a lion. This exactly agrees with Marco Polo's account of the Tibetian dogs; and indeed the more we learn of these regions the more strongly is the veracity of the illus trious Italian confirmed. The bushy-tailed cow, or yak, of Tibet, is common to the whole of Western Tibet, and is an invaluable boon to the natives, both as a beast of burden, and as perfectly fitted, from its constitution and habits, to carry the traveller over the loftiest heights, or convey him across the most impetuous torrents. The ponies of Zaishkar sell from 20 to 70 rupees each. They are very fleet, sure of foot, and cross the highest passes with ease.' The produce of shawl-wool in this country, Moorcroft observes, is immense, and more than 60,000 persons in Cashmere obtain their living solely by the manufacture of it; but in consequence of the grinding oppression of the Afghaun government, more than 4,000 shawl weavers emigrated in 1820, and 6,000 more were expected to emigrate in 1821. Ladauk abounds in fine timber for ship-building, and if it were possible-which it is not to transport it down the Indus to the Punjaub, it would be a most invaluable acquisition.-Of the mineral produce of Ladauk we

16

1 Had Moorcroft been spared, or his papers been recovered, we would have received a satisfactory account of the zoology of Ladauk. As it is, however, he has communicated an interesting account of a new species of sheep called purik. In this communication he states the novelties he found, in the department of natural history, to be so many and great, that to describe them in any sort of detail would require a large volume. This animal, says he, is, when full grown, scarcely so large as a South Down lamb of five or six months old; yet, in the fineness and weight of its fleece, the flavour of its flesh, and the peculiarities of its constitution, it is inferior to no race. It is as completely domesticated as a house-dog. All night it shelters in a walled yard, or under its master's roof. In the day it feeds often on a surface of granite rock, where a blade of vegetation can hardly be seen; and when the land is cleared of harvest and stubble, and not a stalk of vegetation appears, its indefatigable industry detects substances so minute and uninviting, as ordinary sheep could neither see nor take, even in Ladauk. The purik sheep will examine the cooking-pot, pick up crumbs, drink the remains of a cup of salted and buttered tea or broth, or nibble a cleanly picked bone. Leaves of lettuce, rinds of turnip, skins of apricots, are luxurious fare; and the residuum of the coarse black tea consumed by the natives, after being steeped, and the decoction conducted with the utmost frugality, are devoured by this animal. It gives two lambs annually, and is twice shorn within the same period, the clip affording 3 lbs. of wool annually, the first crop being fine enough for tolerably good shawls. Moorcroft affirms that a British cottager could keep three of these sheep easier than he could a cur-dog, as they would live luxuriantly by day on the stripes of grass that border the roads, and by keeping clean hedge bottoms. He also mentions a nondescript species of wild horse, called kiang, which he thinks might be domesticated for the use of the small farmer and poor in Britain. It is about 14 hands high, of a round muscular form, with remarkably clean limbs. This species of horse is found in a district of Changthang, in a part called Kanree, or the snowy mountain;' but it may perhaps be the Equus Caballus, which is found wild in almost every part of Central Ásia.

have no account whatever, save that Izzet Oollah tells us of mines of sulphur three stages from Lei; and that saltpetre abounds, and that very excellent gunpowder is made at Lei.-But the chief glory of Ladauk is the commerce which it enjoys, as the great entrepot of all the produce of all the pastoral region of the upper valley of the Indus, and as a common resting place for all the caravans that go from Khashghar, and Yarkien, and Khotan, to Cashmere and Afghaunistaun, or from these latter to Chinese Toorkistaun. It is the great emporium for all the shawl-wool which is produced in the districts of Changthang and the Oondes, and which is subsequently exported to Cashmere.17 Three grand fairs are annually held in Lei or Ladauk, one in October, one in February, and a third in August. The second of these is the greatest fair. At these fairs the concourse of Mussulmauns from Khashghar and Yarkund, of Lamas from Lassa, Teeshooloomboo, Deeggarchee, and Ghortope from Amritsir, and all the Punjaub, and of merchants from Cashmere and all other places, as Khoonawur and Khoollo, is said to be immense,—all of whom pay duty for their merchandise; and the valuable productions of all these regions are poured into Ladauk, which seems to be an entrepot for their riches, to be re-exported by the various natural channels to their ultimate markets. From Hindostan are imported every species of Hindoo manufactures and produce, as Mooltaun chintzes, the silks of Benares and shawls. From Yarkund come silver, Russia leather, felt carpets, coarse and fine China silks, taffeties, velvets, earthenware, sable furs, small coral beads, and seed

17 It was calculated, that in 1820 the value of the shawl-wool manufactured in Cashmere was from L.500,000 to L. 600,000 sterling; and in 1821, Runjeet Singh, the Seik ruler of the Punjaub, then in possession of Cashmere, farmed the duty on the importation of shawl-wool into Cashmere at 13 lacs of rupees, or L. 160,000: 800 horseloads of this wool go annually hence to Cashmere, each horse-load weighing 28 tereks. The wool is obtained from the hide of the goat, and is distinct from the hair, which is very long and shaggy. It is this double coat of very fine down, or wool and hair, which enables these goats to stand the intense cold of a Tibetian upland. The Latakees have shawl-wool goats likewise, but not in numbers sufficient to supply the demands of Cashmere and Amritsir; and if, at a future period, the produce of this article, raised in Changthang and the Oondes, should be sent to another market, the Latakees would be compelled to rear more goats themselves. But even this would not do, as the cold is not so severe in the vicinity of Ladauk as to the eastward, where the mountains are higher and constantly covered with a large quantity of snow. As matters have stood for nigh a century, and still stand, the Latakees enjoy a complete monopoly of the shawl-wool produce. The reason assigned is, that in the reign of Mah. mood Shah, the Mogul sovereign of Indoostaun, the Gealbo of Ladauk, unable to contend with the Tartars to the eastward, applied for aid to the governor of Cashmere, who represented it to Mahmood, who sent Ibrahim Khan of Cashmere to their assistance, defeated the Tartars, (the Kalmucks according to Izzet Oollah,) and restored the Gealbo to the possession of his capital, who, out of gratitude, acknowledged himself a vassal of Mahmood, and paid tribute to the Hakim of Cashmere, and coined money in the name of the emperor Mahmood. In consequence of this defeat of the Tartars, an article was inserted in the treaty of peace between them and Ladauk, that the Latakees should have the sole privilege of buying up, at their own price, all the shawl-wool produced in the districts of Roodauk, Ghortope, and the Oondes of the upper valley of the Sutluj, in the vicinity of its source; and the sale of this article to any other save them, by the inhabitants, is forbidden under pain of death.— Even the Cashmerians, though allowed to attend the fairs of Roodauk and Ghortope, and dispose of their merchandise, are prohibited from purchasing the shawl-wool, but must receive it at second hand from the Latakees, and even a duty of 4 rupees, or 10s., is charged by the Latakees on every horse-load of shawl-wool exported to Cashmere; but no duty is levied on it when imported into Tibet from other countries. A duty of 4 rupees is charged on every terek weight of Cashmere shawls when exported to Yarkund. So much is Cashmere dependent on Ladauk for its supply of shawl-wool, that whoever is the political ruler, whether a Mogul, an Afghaun, or a Seik as Runjeet Singh the present possessor, he must be on good terms with Ladauk, because, were it otherwise, all the shawl weavers of Cashmere would be instantly thrown out of employment, and the Hakim would lose all his duty on the importation, amounting to at least L.150,000 annually.

pearls. Tea, of which large quantities are drunk at Ladauk, is brought from Lassa, and pays a small duty.

The question, whether Ladauk was a detached sovereignty from Tibet, as Father Desideri maintained, and which Malte Brun was unable to determine, is now solved; and it is ascertained that it is altogether a distinct state from Tibet, though closely connected with it by political, commercial, and ecclesiastical bonds. The Chinese chief of Takklacotte assured Webb that the authority of the emperor of China extended as far as Ladauk, which, however, was independent of China. This doubt arose from the extended application of the name Tibet, or Tobbhot, which included all the vast region between China, Tangoot, the two Bukharias, and Hindostan. Hence it was concluded, that since Ladauk was in Tibet, it must be a province of it, and not a distinct independent state. But it was forgotten that the appellative Tibet was not so much a political as an ecclesiastical designation, like the terms, Christendom, Eeraun, Belad-al-Islam, and Kaufeerustaun denoting the region of the faith of Boodha. Ladauk is actually an independent state, though Runjeet Singh sent a vakeel in 1819 to demand tribute. In fact, it is the interest of all the neighbouring states that Ladauk should be independent, and it is to this sense of common interest that it owes its independency. It is the interest of the Chinese authorities, both to the N. and E., that Ladauk be protected, as it is the great market for their shawl-wool, and as the great transit of commercial intercourse with Hindostan; and it is equally the interest of Cashmere that Ladauk be independent, to insure a constant supply of the precious shawlwool for its favourite manufacture of shawls. The great difficulty of access to it, surrounded as it is on all sides by the loftiest mountains of the globe, is another cause of its independence; for the expense and trouble of keeping up a constant military communication with it across such mountain-ranges and difficult passes would be enormous, in addition to the certain loss of all the revenue derived from the importation of the shawlwool, and ruin of the Cashmere manufactures; and the exportation of that material, so essential to Cashmere, would be diverted to another channel, namely, the districts of British India, next to the Oondes. As the character of the natives is that of a quiet, inoffensive, unwarlike race, the country could be easily overrun, did not the above considerations stand in the way of its conquest. All religions are tolerated at Ladauk; but the established religion is Boodhism, and the chief, whose title is Gealbo, or rajah, sends a yearly donation to the Dalai Lama of Lassa. Whenever a son is born to the rajah, he abdicates the sovereignty, and the ministers govern in the name of the prince. The principal ministers are the Ghylong, or lama, who acts as deputy, the chaghut, or steward, and the muaghten, or military commander. During this period the Ghylong is perfect master of the supreme authority, and the Gealbo takes no part in state affairs.

The dress of the natives is a coarse cloth made of sheep wool, and in winter the poorer sort wrap themselves in the skin. They wear very high black caps falling over one ear, shoes of undressed hide, within which they sew woollen cloth that comes up to the middle of the leg; their hair is plaited like that of women, and falls down in a braid behind; they shave the beard, but preserve the mustachios; the lower part of the tunic is straight and scanty, whilst the upper part is folded, all in one piece. The tunic is made of black or coloured woollen. The women wear turquoises, emeralds, and pearls, woven with their hair. The Gealbo has no claim to

any part of the crops, but derives his income from a tax on the head of each house, and he levies one or two rupees annually according to the ground, which is divided according to the water consumed in irrigation.17

District of Changthang.] This very mountainous tract lies to the E. and S.E. of Ladauk, and contains the sources of the Indus. On the N. it is bounded by a continuation of the same great range which forms the S. frontier of Chinese Toorkistaun; on the E. by another lofty snow-clad range running N. from the Caillas to the Mooz Taugh; and on the S. and S.W. by the Caillas range which divides it from the head valley of the Sutluj river. This tract is subject to the government of Lassa, which has an officer named the Garpan, stationed at Ghortope, to manage its temporal concerns. It is entirely a country of pasturage, where immense flocks of sheep, goats, yaks, and wild horses, feed. It is wholly composed of mountains and valleys, watered by innumerable torrents, all emptying themselves into the Indus, the valley of which is the widest, and bordered with snowy mountains and high table-lands. The climate, as might be expected, in a country perhaps the loftiest on the globe, is severe, much more so than at Ladauk; the winters are long, and the summers only two months annually, and Gortope is habitable, it is said, only four months in the year. Snow falls here even in July and August. On July 16th, the thermometer stood at 34o in the morning, and the tents were frozen on the road from Daba to Gortope, which led through defiles of frozen snow and ice; on the 31st of the same month, thermometer 34o and ice 3-4ths of an inch thick ; on the 10th of August, thermometer at 32°, and the tents covered two inches thick with snow which fell from the preceding midnight till nine next morning. The atmospheric changes are rapid, frequent, and severe, during summer, with thunder, lightning, rain, hail, and snow, one day, and fine serene sunshine, another. The inhabitants are compelled to wear very thick clothing to prevent cold. The outer garments are striped woollens from Guinak in Chinese Toorkistaun, and beneath these are four other garments worn by both sexes to preserve heat. The very animals, as the goats, the yaks, the wild horses, wild asses, mules, and the bharals, have all coats of fine thick fur beneath their heavy coats to protect them against

17 One problem solved by Moorcroft is the site of Ladauk, which strongly evinces the importance of his journey to geographical science. He has fixed its site in 34° 9′ 21′′ N. lat., a position exceedingly different from any previously assigned to that city, as will appear from the following table:

Here are differences amounting to 6 and 7 degrees of latitude, and not less than 33 of longitude, in respect of the Jesuits' edition of the Lamas' map. It is curious to observe that the latest authorities, as Elphinstone, Izzet Oollah, Frazer, and Hamilton, are widest of the truth; and it is equally curious that in a memoir of Anquetil Du Perron, with a map attached to it by Mr Poirson (Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, tom. xlix. p. 512), the latitude of Ladauk is fixed as it should be by the constructor of the map, but Anquetil Du Perron himself cautions his reader against trusting to it, wisely observing, that it is better to consult the map of D'Anville and the Jesuits.