Page:Narratives of the mission of George Bogle to Tibet.djvu/12

Rh with foot-note references, to enumerate all the sources of information respecting Great Tibet, and the region between it and British India; and especially to furnish particulars as to the visits of Europeans to those countries. My first object is thus to show the exact positions, in history, which are occupied by the mission sent by Warren Hastings and conducted by Mr. Bogle, and by the journey of Mr. Manning to Lhasa. My second object is to supply facilities for the exhaustive study of an important subject, and one which ought to be thoroughly understood by all public men connected with British India, and by all who interest themselves in the progress and welfare of our Eastern Empire.

The introduction is followed by two biographical sketches, one of Mr. George Bogle, B.C.S., and the other of Mr. Thomas Manning.

The narratives of Grueber, Desideri, and Horace della Penna, Catholic priests who visited Lhasa in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, are given in an Appendix.

I should not have been able to complete my task if I had not received much kind assistance from many quarters. In the first place, the proof sheets of Bogle's narrative have had the inestimable advantage of revision from Mr. Brian Hodgson, who, in addition, has supplied me with many hints from his vast storehouse of information. I have also to thank Sir John Davis, Colonel Yule, Colonel Haughton, Dr. Hooker, Commodore Jansen of the Hague, Professor Yeth of Leyden, the learned President of the Dutch Geographical Society, Mr. Major of the British Museum, Mr. Charles B. Phillimore, and Colonel Montgomerie, for valuable assistance.

The staff of the Geographical Department of the India Office have zealously made the aid they have given in the production of this volume a part of their extra work. Mr. Trelawney Saunders, besides preparing the maps, has been indefatigable in identifying names of places, and in conducting difficult bits of research. It must be remembered that a single identification, represented