The Mountain Systems of Central Asia. Charts and Diagrams showing the Results of Swedish Hydrographic THE SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. MY EXPERIENCES IN TIBET. By ANNIE R. TAYLOR. (Read at Meetings of the Society in Edinburgh and Glasgow, December 1893.) IN addressing the members of a learned Society, as I have the honour and pleasure of doing this afternoon, I feel much regret that, owing to my lack of scientific knowledge and the want of instruments, I was unable, during my late journey through Tibet, to make any of those observations which I know are valued by such a body. Tibet is, however, so little known, and information so scarce regarding its accessibility by travellers, that I feel that a short relation of my experiences, and a statement of facts, the knowledge of which I reaped in my late journey in that country and during my residence at various times on its frontiers, will not be uninteresting. I will deal especially with Eastern Tibet, of which I have the most experience. There are three highroads from the Chinese borders to the Tibetan capital, Lhassa. Two start at the south-east of Tibet, from Ta-chien-lu, the border-town in the Chinese province of Sze-chuen. Of these one is the official, or Ba-li-tang-Lam (lam is Tibetan for road), and is used by the Mandarins, and by official couriers; the other is the Tea Road or Ga-Lam, the route of the tea caravans. The third highroad starts from Si-ning (north-east of Tibet) in the Chinese province of Kan-su, and is called the Si-ning Lam. In the centre of the Nag-chu-ka district of Tibet proper, and but a few days' journey from Lhassa, the Si-ning Road converges into the Tea Road. Of these three routes the official is the shortest. Another advantage it has consists in the rest-houses at intervals by the roadside, where travellers can stay, and fresh horses be hired. It is, however, the most mountainous of the roads, and consequently, the most expensive to VOL. X. A |