A RIDE ACROSS ASIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 100, 29 April 1893, Page 4

A RIDE ACROSS ASIA.

LORD DUNMORE'S ADVENTURES.

A most notable journey on horse beck across the continent of Asia has just been completed by Lord Dunmore, who has been interviewed at Constantinople by a representative of the Pall Mall Budget. Lord Dunmore says : — THE REAL START. "In April I began seriously. Went up the Jeelum (the ancient Hydaspes) into Kahmir, halting at Srinagar, where I believe there has since been trouble. In May I crossed the Western Himalayas, going into Baltistan and Ladakb, or Middle Thibet, and reaching Leh, the capital. Here I was joined by Major Roche, of the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and we formed a caravan. We engaged thirty men and had fifty-six horses. Late in June we crossed tha Eastern Himalayas, and went into Western Thibet, travelling thence over the Mustagh or Ice Mountains into Chinese territory. We travelled by the Karakorum "Pass, which, as you know, is the highest caravan pass in the world. It is 19,000 feet above sea level. For twelve consecutive days we were at a mean altitude of 17,250 feet above eea level. That means living, eating, drinking, walking through snow and over ice at an altitude nearly TWO THOUSAND FEET HIGHER THAN MONT BLANC. . "Major Roche and I suffered a good deal, and the men seemed to like it less than w T e did. We lost a . hors3 or two through the rarefaction 'of the air. Besides, there wasn't a blade of grass for the poor brutes to • eat. On the 16th July we made the . Chinese fort of Sugey. Then we took once more to the heights, and crossed the Kuen Luen mountains by a pass 18,850 feet high. No Englishman had ever crossed them before. We stayed some time in the Sugey Pass, exploring. There we loss two horses which fell over precipices. At length we reached ban ju ; after resting briefly we crossed the deserts and oases of Chinese Turkestan, arriving at August at Yarkand, the capital of Eastern Turkestan. Thence over several mountains, and, with no little difficulty, across flooded rivers till we HIT CAPTAIN YOUNGHUSBAND'S TRAIL. _on the desert of Shaitan Kum. No ■white man's foot but his had trodden it before us." "Did you follow his route over the Pamirs ?" "Yes and no. After we had reached Tash Kurgan we spent three months in the disputed districts, riding more than 600 miles round the Afghan, Chinese, and Russian frontiers. In November "We reached Colonel Yanoff's headquarters." " Did you find him as ferocious as you expected ?" " Well, you must remember that •When I started he had not gone out on the warpath, so I had no expectations about him," was Lord Dunmote's parry. "I had rather not speak of him now. We shot some speciments of the Ovis Poii, the wild mountain sheep of the Pamirs, which takes its name from Marco Polo, who discovered it." " Did you make any discoveries ?" " Yes. We explored several new passes, and took scientific observations all over the country. As a result of these I have sent a new map of the Pamirs to the Royal Geographical Society for publication. During our sojourn in the country the thermometer ranged between 20 deg, and 30 deg. Fahr, ; we were never free from frost. Yanoff's men suffered severely. It struck me that the Asiatic, even of the Cossack variety, is not good at bearing cold." " Had you no adventures ?" "Not \ with the Russians. But after we had left their fort of Rangkul we crossed the i- arigol mountains by a pass which no European had ever~travelled. After our descent a Chinese officer with fifteen men',came upon us, and we were ARRESTED AS RUSSIAN SPIES." "Were you long detained ?" "No. We had a tiresome detention, but did not excite ourselves. . After [some time we succeeded in . convincing our captor that we were Englishmen. He released us, and •when we got to Kashgar the authorties had the grace to apologise. At Kashgar we had to break up the caravan, as the Russians refused to allow Maj<*r Roche to cross their Central Asiatic frontier." "And you?" " Oh, I had a personal permit from the Czar, and proceeded alone. I left Kashgar in December, unattended by any interpreter or guide, or even by a ' practicable ' servant. Afternineteen days' riding I reached the Alai Mountains, and crossed by the Great Terek Pass, I had to travel through the snow on foot. Three of my horses were frozen to death. From the Terek my line was across Central Asiatic Russia, passing through Osh, Andijan, Margilan, Khokhand, Khojend, and '■■ Tashkend. Then I was SNOWED UP FOR EIGHTEEN DAYS trying to reach Khiva. But at that season Khiva is unapproachable, since the Oxus cannot be navigated, owing to the masses of floating ice. So I left ' the majestic river floating on,' and at length reached the Syr ' • ■ Daria (Jaxartes) which I CROSSED ON THE ICE. Samarkand was my next point. In fact, the riding ended there. I took the Transcaspian railway to _^___'B c axi^«-^-?rf^rT7'ASKaljad, and, hav- "^ ing crossed the Caspian and the Caucasus, embarked at Baton m. As you know, I arrived here on the •14th, just a year after my start." •'■•.- "The end of the journey was ■ quite solitary ? " " Yes, from China I was entirely alone. I sold my caravan at Osh, on the frontier, and dismissed the ' men, who returned to Yarkand." " But how did you manage to communicate your ideas ? " " Oh, I speak Russian. And I found the little Kirghiz that I know extremely useful." A PROSPEROUS JOURNEY. " Then you did not have any hair-breadth adventures on the way, Lord Dunmore ? " " No, I can't say that there was anything very thrilling. In fact, we were very lucky all the time. During the whole nine months of caravan work we only lost five horses— four from falling over precipices and being frozen to death, and one in the high altitudes over the Karakorum. We didn't lose a single man. By the way," went on Lord Dunmore, emphatically, " I ought to'say that the courtesy I received from Russians in the Pamirs and Russian Central Asia was most marked. Everywhere they treated me with the greatest regard, and I have a lot to be grateful to them for," ,