t travellers
repose before entering on the Desert.[NOTE 1]

NOTE 1.--Though the _Lake_ of Lob or Lop appears on all our maps, from
Chinese authority, the latter does not seem to have supplied information
as to a town so called. We have, however, indications of the existence of
such a place, both mediaeval and recent. The History of Mirza Haidar,
called the Tarikh-i-Rashidi, already referred to, in describing the Great
Basin of Eastern Turkestan, says: "Formerly there were several large
cities in this plain; the names of two have survived--_Lob_ and _Kank_,
but of the rest there is no trace or tradition; all is buried under the
sand." [Forsyth (_J. R. G. S._ XLVII. 1877, p. 5) says that he thinks that
this Kank is probably the Katak mentioned by Mirza Haidar.--H. C.] In
another place the same history says that a boy heir of the house of
Chaghatai, to save him from a usurper, was sent away to Sarigh Uighur and
_Lob-Kank_, far in the East. Again, in the short notices of the cities of
Turkestan which Mr. Wathen collected at Bombay from pilgrims of those
regions on their way to Mecca, we find the following: "_Lopp_.--Lopp is
situated at a great distance from Yarkand. The inhabitants are principally
Chinese; but a few Uzbeks reside there. Lopp is remarkable for a
salt-water lake in its vicinity." Johnson, speaking of a road from Tibet
into Khotan, says: "This route ... leads not only to Ilchi and Yarkand, but
also via _Lob_ to the large and important city of Karashahr." And among the
routes attached to Mr. Johnson's original Report, we have:--

"Route No. VII. _Kiria_ (see note 1 to last chapter) to CHACHAN and LOB
(_from native information_)."

This first revealed to me the continued existence of Marco's Charchan; for
it was impossible to doubt that in the CHACHAN and LOB of this Itinerary
we had his Charchan and Lop; and his route to the verge of the Great
Desert was thus made clear.

Mr. Johnson's information made the journey from Kiria to Charchan to be 9
marches, estimated by him to amount to 154 miles, and adding 69 miles from
Ilchi to Kiria (which he actually traversed) we have 13 marches or 223
miles for the distance from Ilchi to Charchan. Mr. Shaw has since obtained
a route between Ilchi and Lob on very good authority. This makes the
distance to Charchan, or _Charchand_, as it is called, 22 marches, which
Mr. Shaw estimates at 293 miles. Both give 6 marches from Charchand to
Lob, which is in fair accordance wit