Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/51

Rh Kuropatkine was questioned rather as to the military preparations made by the Athalik Ghazi than as to the condition of the country itself and the accuracy of the extant geographical information. But during the course of his journey from Kashgar to Turf an, by the Aksu and Kucha road—a journey which, so far as we can ascertain, has never been performed by any other European within the present century—he must have acquired information that is still and will probably for some time remain unique. But as we possess no material for giving the details of his journey, we may pass on to the next and last of the Russian travellers, Colonel Prjevalsky.

Of all Asiatic travellers the Russian Colonel Prjevalsky is the most distinguished. More than any other does he appear to possess the qualities of Marco Polo. His travels in China, Mongolia, the Tangut country, and more recently in Eastern Turkestan, are all entitled to rank among the most brilliant of modern enterprises. At the present time Prjevalsky is preparing to set out from Kuldja on a journey across the deserts and mountain chains of the farther portion of Eastern Turkestan, in an attempt to reach Tibet and to visit the capital of the Dalai Lama. His last journey to Lob Nor was so remarkable, that, although a translation of his own narrative has just been published, it would be an omission not to give a brief sketch here of its salient features. Colonel Prjevalsky